Delfin takes US$5Bn FID, inks construction deal for US' first FLNG export plant

US-headquartered Delfin Midstream has taken a final investment decision (FID) to build the floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) unit for the company’s Port Delfin LNG offshore LNG export terminal.

Once built, Delfin said that the terminal, which is planned to sit some 40 nautical miles from the coast of Louisiana, will have the largest liquefaction capacity of any floating project, globally.

The company intends for the project to be built around a trio of FLNG vessels, each vessel capable of producing at least 4M tonnes per annum (mta) of LNG and each connected to existing offshore pipelines to transport natural gas from the US pipeline grid to the FLNG vessels.

Delfin said it has now executed a construction contract for its first FLNG vessel with South Korean shipyard Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and US-based EPC specialists Black & Veatch. 

With the first vessel scheduled to begin LNG production in 2030, the company said it "continues to diligently advance towards securing FIDs for FLNG vessels two and three over the coming year". 

"Delfin FLNG 1 will be the first floating liquefaction facility in the United States and the largest FLNG project globally, with an expected export capacity of 4.4 million tonnes of LNG per year," the company said. 

Delfin said the decision to build its Delfin FLNG 1 is supported by long-term LNG sales agreements with energy companies including Vitol, Expand Energy, Centrica and Gunvor and that it had added several investors who are backing the startup of the project.

"Concurrent with the FID, a group of investors led by BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners division and including existing investors Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), Vitol and Diameter Capital Partners... have agreed to invest in the first phase of this critical energy infrastructure project," Delfin said.

In July 2025, the company said it was eyeing an FID on the project in Q3 2025, with an agreement with Siemens Energy to reserve manufacturing capacity for four SGT-750 gas turbine mechanical drive packages and what it called "an early works programme" with SHI and Black & Veatch to refine the FLNG vessel design specifications in preparation for an engineering, procurement, construction and integration contract. The preliminary discussions, the company said, formed "the basis for contractors to execute the project in the near term". 

The company said it had also successfully conducted all permitting work under the US’ Deepwater Port Act, governed by the Maritime Administration (MARAD), received the deepwater port licence from MARAD and received the non-FTA export licence from the Department of Energy for 13.2M tonnes of LNG per annum covering all three FLNG vessels.

The company’s subsidiary Delfin LNG received the first deepwater port licence from MARAD in March 2025, authorising Delfin LNG to build, operate and own an offshore LNG export plant in the US. At the time, the company cited its progress in developing the Port Delfin LNG project and said it is actively pursuing additional deepwater port projects in the US Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America).

In an International Energy Agency report tracking global LNG capacity, the agency said that the US had been dominating FIDs in the LNG industry since Donald Trump had again become president. Mr Trump lifted a moratorium on LNG projects initiated under the prior Biden administration.

"In 2025, new LNG FIDs returned to the United States following the lifting of the permitting pause in January. During the year, the United States once again dominated final investment decisions, accounting for more than 90% of the total. With over 83 bcm/yr of new capacity sanctioned, 2025 marked a record year for US LNG FIDs. All FIDs is 2026 to date have also come from the United States," the May 2026 report said.