DISCLAIMER: This is an industry reference article based on publicly available reporting. Hebei Haihao makes no claim of supply, EPC participation, or commercial relationship with any company or contractor named in this article. All information is sourced from public news, corporate releases, and industry publications.
1. Project Background
Golden Pass LNG is a brownfield conversion of an existing US LNG import terminal into a large-scale export facility, located at Sabine Pass, Texas. The facility is a joint venture between QatarEnergy (70%) and ExxonMobil (30%). According to public reporting, the project has a nameplate export capacity exceeding 18 million tonnes per annum across three liquefaction trains.
The project's construction history has been tightly linked to its EPC consortium of Zachry Group, CB&I (a McDermott subsidiary) and Chiyoda. In 2024, the lead member Zachry Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which forced a project reorganization and pushed first LNG out of the originally guided 2025 window. According to publicly reported statements from ExxonMobil leadership and from Golden Pass LNG, first LNG production from Train 1 was achieved on March 30, 2026, and the first export cargo departed on April 22, 2026.
For international procurement engineers, the Golden Pass LNG terminal startup is a useful case in how late-stage EPC distress can affect commissioning, spares and replacement-part demand on a US Gulf Coast mega-terminal.
