Dallas-based energy infrastructure owner Energy Transfer said Dec. 18 it is suspending its estimated $5.3-billion Lake Charles liquefied natural gas export terminal project in Louisiana “to focus on allocating capital to its significant backlog of natural gas pipeline infrastructure projects that [it] believes provides superior risk/return profiles.”
The project suspension comes as the company has faced rising project costs and market fears of a looming global oversupply of LNG, but it said it “remains open to discussions with third parties that may have an interest in developing the project.” Media reports speculated that at least two buyers, including MidOcean Energy LLC, are interested.
The project’s EPC contract was awarded in 2024 to a joint venture of KBR and Technip Energies to convert the existing smaller site gas import facility into an LNG export site, with three new liquefaction trains and an annual capacity of 16.5 million metric tons. The Lake Charles site was set to supply oil giant Chevron with about 3 million tons per year, Energy Transfer said previously.
But analysts note the growing U.S. LNG capacity, with one stating that “more projects will wither away.”
Energy Transfer also announced last month that it is increasing capacity of the planned Desert Southwest expansion of its Transwestern pipeline from the Texas Permian region across New Mexico into Arizona. The company said the pipeline diameter will expand to 48 in. from 42 in., boosting capacity to 2.3 billion cu ft per day and the project investment to $5.6 billion. The firm cited additional customer demand, particularly driven by population and data center growth, as well as the replacement of coal-fired power plants with natural gas facilities. The pipeline is set to operate by the end of 2029.
Other Southwest pipeline projects include Kinder Morgan’s $455-million Gulf Coast Expansion Project, which will increase Permian Basin gas to south Texas markets by 570 million cu ft per day and is set to be completed by mid-year. In the Midwest, TC Energy Corp. has approved the $900-million Northwoods expansion of its ANR line, which it said will add 400,000 cu ft per day of new capacity in Illinois and Wisconsin to support data centers, including 69 miles of new 36-in. and 42-in. line, with service expected by late 2029.
Alaska LNG Marks Milestone
Meanwhile the Alaska LNG project cleared its final updated federal permits in December 2025 in an estimated $45-billion bid led by developer Glenfarne and with the state-owned Alaska Gasline Development Corp. owning 25%, to build a Prudhoe Bay gas treatment plant and carbon sequestration facility and 800-mile gas pipeline from the North Slope to an enlarged LNG export facility south of Anchorage that can produce up to 3.5 billion cu ft per day for export and domestic use.
The project gained its expedited federal Fast-41 permits last month, Alaska LNG said, with the Trump administration’s push to accelerate domestic fossil-fuel projects, but timing for a Final Investment Decision and construction start remains unclear. The developer noted preliminary interest from Asian buyers and said it signed a non-binding letter of intent this month with developers of a proposed gold mine in southwest Alaska for long-term energy supply. Australia-based contractor Worley is preparing a final engineering study and cost estimate, developers said last year.
“This project is crucial for our future,” said Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski. “It can help secure Alaska’s economy for the next generation, while delivering affordable gas both in-state and to our allies across the Pacific.”
But observers note hurdles in securing supply contracts with new competition from the now-open LNG Canada plant in British Columbia, and others under construction. and cost and environmental challenges, before it can proceed with the first phase of pipeline construction.
