QatarEnergy signed two agreements to buy up to four million metric tonnes of U.S. liquefied natural gas a year through 2054 after damage at Ras Laffan; neither company said the damage prompted the deal.
The Oct. 22 agreements cover Cheniere’s Sabine Pass facility in Louisiana and its Corpus Christi facility in Texas. QatarEnergy expects deliveries to start in 2031 and continue through 2054; Cheniere has described the start as the early 2030s.
QatarEnergy agreed to buy two million tonnes a year from each facility. Prices are tied to the U.S. Henry Hub benchmark plus a fixed fee. One million tonnes annually from Sabine Pass is conditional on a positive final investment decision for the first phase of Cheniere’s expansion project.
QatarEnergy President and CEO Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi said the purchase “will expand and diversify our global LNG portfolio.”
QatarEnergy said missile strikes damaged LNG Trains 4 and 6 on March 18 and early March 19. Its estimate of damage at Ras Laffan put the annual capacity loss at 12.8 million tonnes, about 17% of Qatar’s exports; the company said repairs could take three to five years. QatarEnergy estimated lost revenue at about $20 billion a year. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said Iranian attacks included a strike targeting Ras Laffan on March 18.
The deal links a U.S. supplier with a Qatari buyer. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) ranked the United States first and Qatar second among LNG exporters in 2025. U.S. exports averaged 15.1 billion cubic feet per day, or 26% of global exports, while Qatar shipped 10.6 billion cubic feet per day. About 20% of global LNG trade passed through the Strait of Hormuz in 2024, primarily from Qatar, the EIA said.
The contracts give Cheniere a long-term buyer, while QatarEnergy’s estimates show the cost of the damage to Qatar’s energy sector through lost capacity and revenue. Cheniere lists its third-quarter 2026 earnings call for Thursday, Oct. 29, at 11 a.m. EDT (15:00 UTC).
