Exxon plans $10 billion Texas natural gas export terminal

Exxon Mobil Corp. made a final decision Tuesday with Qatar Petroleum to build a $10 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project on Texas’s Gulf of Mexico coast.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry joined representatives of Exxon and Qatar Petroleum, the country’s state-owned oil company, to sign the deal Tuesday.

The project would greatly expand the existing Golden Pass LNG terminal which was opened in 2010 on the Sabine Pass to import gas. The expanded terminal would have the capacity to produce about 16 million tons of LNG per year, chilling gas to -260 degrees Fahrenheit to increase its density and load it onto tankers for shipping around the world.

{mosads}Construction is due to take five years and empoy about 9,000 construction workers.

“Golden Pass will provide an increased, reliable, long-term supply of liquefied natural gas to global gas markets, stimulate local growth and create thousands of jobs,” Darren Woods, Exxon’s CEO, said in a statement.

“The extensive experience of ExxonMobil and Qatar Petroleum provides the expertise, resources and financial strength needed to construct and operate an integrated liquefaction and export facility in the United States.”

Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s minister of state for energy affairs, joined Woods to sign the deal.

“The development of the Golden Pass LNG export facility enhances the depth and flexibility of our global LNG supply portfolio, and reinforces the position of the U.S. as a key contributor to meeting the world’s growing demand for LNG,” he said in a statement.

Qatar Petroleum owns a 70 percent stake in the project, and Exxon will have the remaining 30 percent after buying a 12.4 percent stake from ConocoPhillips Co.

Perry framed the deal as a victory for President Trump’s “Energy Dominance” agenda, which seeks to ramp up domestic production and export of fossil fuels.

“The Golden Pass project is proof that two of the world’s top energy producers can work together as allies to increase energy diversity, advance energy security and support rather than subvert an open energy marketplace,” he said.