Prior to the Maritime Administration license, the Department of Energy granted a five-year extension for the project to begin exporting LNG, with the new deadline set for October 2029. (Source: Shutterstock)
With the latest round of permitting complete, Delfin LNG may be the first offshore LNG export project in the U.S. to start production.
In March, the Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) issued a license allowing Delfin LNG to construct, operate and export from its platform located approximately 38 miles off the Louisiana Gulf Coast.
The company has previously said it plans to start shipping LNG in 2026.
The project got several boosts from President Donald Trump’s administration.
Prior to the MARAD license, the Department of Energy (DOE) granted a five-year extension for the project to begin exporting LNG, with the new deadline set for October 2029. The extension had been delayed by the former White House administration.
Current DOE Secretary Chris Wright announced the extension was approved during an appearance at CERAWeek in Houston. The move was part of the Trump administration’s “Unleashing American Energy” executive order, part of which charged federal agencies to speed up the permitting process for LNG projects.
The approval process involved MARAD and the Coast Guard working with about 15 other federal agencies as well as Texas and Louisiana.
“The level of support by the President of the United States and his administration for the development of critical energy infrastructure has been truly remarkable,” said Dudley Poston, Delfin CEO, in the company’s announcement of the permit. “The Delfin floating LNG [FLNG] project has the potential to be not just the first LNG export deepwater port facility in the United States, but a significant economic contributor and job creator over the long term.”
Delfin LNG is a brownfield deepwater port that will support up to three FLNG vessels producing up to 13.2 million tons of LNG a year. The MARAD permit allows Delfin to enter into contracts for long-term LNG exports to countries that do not have a free-trade agreement with the U.S. Non-free trade permits are crucial to LNG export projects economic viability.
While waiting on the license, Delfin has expanded its future customer base. At the end of March, the company signed a long-term supply agreement with SEFE, a European energy company based in Germany.
The Delfin project would be the first of its kind in the Gulf of Mexico, but other projects have started production globally. On April 17, BP announced that the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim LNG project off the coasts of Senegal and Mauritania had shipped its first cargo.
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