Houston-based E&P company Caturus announced on Friday it has reached a positive FID on the Commonwealth LNG project, a planned facility with 9.5 million tonnes per year of liquefaction capacity in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.
The decision comes in parallel to the close of USD 9.75 billion in project financing to construct the facility in a project that brings together Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Energy, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) and US asset manager Kimmeridge.
Mubadala Energy holds a 24.1% stake in the Caturus platform, which includes Commonwealth LNG and Caturus’s upstream operations, and is an equity participant in the funding. CPP Investments will contribute USD 1.2 billion in financing and increase its stake in the Caturus platform to 31%, including previous investments.
“The investment adds to our existing global gas-weighted portfolio and expands our exposure across the full gas value chain – an important driver of our longstanding growth plans,” said Mubadala Energy managing director and CEO Mansoor Mohamed Al Hamed.
The project has obtained commitments for USD 21.3 billion from equity and debt investors, including EOC Partners, BlackRock and Ares Infrastructure Opportunities.
Slated to come on stream in 2030, the first phase of the development is expected to generate more than USD 3 billion per year in export revenue. So far, Commonwealth LNG has secured long-term offtake agreements with EQT, Glencore, Mercuria, Petronas and Aramco Trading.
Caturus has recently expanded its upstream position through the acquisition of Galvan Ranch natural gas assets from SM Energy, bringing its net production capacity to more than 28.3 mcm (1 bcf) equivalent per day of gas.