Woodside Louisiana LNG

Woodside took final investment decision on Louisiana LNG in April 2025 and has been running three liquefaction trains and two storage tanks through construction simultaneously ever since.

The plant sits on the west bank of the Calcasieu Ship Channel south of Carlyss in Calcasieu Parish, on the site Woodside acquired when it bought Tellurian and its Driftwood LNG permits in October 2024. Phase 1 is three trains totaling 16.5 million tonnes per annum. The site carries federal authorization for 27.6 mtpa across five plants in four phases, which is the largest permitted expansion runway on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Project Scope

Forecast capital expenditure is $17.5 billion on a 100 percent basis, covering the LNG project, the associated pipeline, and management reserve. Some trade coverage cites roughly $27 billion, but that figure describes the fully permitted buildout rather than the sanctioned Phase 1 scope. Bechtel Energy holds the lump-sum EPC contract as sole contractor.

Stonepeak is funding $5.7 billion of the capex on an accelerated basis, covering 75 percent of capital expenditure in both 2025 and 2026. That sell-down completed in June 2025, leaving Woodside with 60 percent and operatorship. Williams has been announced as a partner on associated infrastructure.

Overall completion reached 28 percent at the end of Q2 2026, with Train 1 specifically at 35 percent. Structural steel is up on Trains 1 and 2, first piping went into the Train 1 pipe rack, and concrete piling advanced on Train 2. The construction workforce had ramped to nearly 900 by mid-2026. Federal authorizations run under FERC dockets CP17-117 and CP17-118, with the original order issued in April 2019 and an extension of time granted in February 2024.

Why It Matters

Building three trains concurrently rather than sequentially is the schedule bet that defines this job. It compresses the timeline toward a 2029 first cargo, but it also stacks peak craft demand into a Gulf Coast labor market already absorbing Plaquemines, Rio Grande, and Port Arthur. Bechtel is the one contractor with the bench to attempt it, which is a large part of why it holds the whole scope rather than a package.

The financing structure is worth watching as a template. Stonepeak front-loading three quarters of the capital in the two heaviest spend years lets Woodside hold operatorship and a controlling stake without carrying the peak cash draw. Expect more infrastructure equity structured that way on the next wave of Gulf Coast liquefaction.

Project Team & Details