Groundbreaking for Louisiana LNG: State’s Largest Foreign Investment Underway

Groundbreaking took place this week on a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, purported to be the largest foreign investment in the state's history. The project - Louisiana LNG - is backed by Australian company, Woodside Energy, and carries an estimated $17–17.5 billion price tag. Construction on the first LNG train is already underway, with more than 22% complete, and the developer anticipates first exports by 2029. Once fully built, the facility could produce up to 27.6 million tonnes per annum of LNG, representing a significant addition to Louisiana’s role in the global export market.

Woodside acquired the project, formerly known as Driftwood LNG, through its $1.2 billion acquisition of Houston-based Tellurian Inc. in 2024. In advance of the final investment decision (FID), Woodside agreed to sell a 40% stake in Louisiana LNG to U.S. infrastructure investor Stonepeak for $5.7 billion. Shortly thereafter, Woodside signed a long-term gas supply agreement with BP to provide natural gas to the project with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2029.

The facility has been the subject of litigation, including challenges to its wetlands permitting. In 2022, Healthy Gulf and the Sierra Club petitioned the Fifth Circuit to review the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ issuance of a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit; the court denied the petition in May 2023, ultimately allowing construction to proceed.