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Chiyoda revealed the signing of the agreement in a statement on Monday.
The company said that the construction JV partners “have continued cooperative discussions with Golden Pass LNG Terminal (GPX) related to completing the project.”
On November 21, 2024, Chiyoda and CB&I reached an agreement on the “amendment of the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract and associated commercial terms for the completion of the full scope for Train 1.”
“CB&I and CIC, and Golden Pass LNG Terminal will continue engagements on subsequently amending the contract for the completion of Trains 2 and 3 and will disclose promptly when we conclude such agreement,” Chiyoda said.
The Japanese firm did not provide further infomation.
LNG Prime invited Golden Pass LNG to comment on the matter.
“As announced by Chiyoda and CB&I, we have reached an agreement on the amendment to the EPC contract and associated commercial terms for the completion of the full scope of Train 1,” a spokesman for Golden Pass LNG said.
State-owned QatarEnergy owns a 70 percent stake in the Golden Pass LNG project with a capacity of more than 18 mtpa and will offtake 70 percent of the capacity, while US energy firm ExxonMobil has a 30 percent share.
A joint venture of Chiyoda, McDermott’s CB&I, and Zachry won the EPC contract to build the three Golden Pass trains worth about $10 billion next to the existing LNG import terminal in the vicinity of Sabine Pass, Texas.
However, Zachry Holdings said on May 21 that it had filed for bankruptcy, initiating a structured exit from the Golden Pass LNG export project due to “financial challenges” related to the facility’s construction.
Golden Pass LNG told LNG Prime on July 25 that it will ramp up construction activities at the LNG terminal after a bankruptcy court approved a settlement agreement with Zachry.
2025 or 2026
ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods recently said that the launch of the Golden Pass LNG export terminal could slip to 2026.
Woods said in August that the JV expects to start LNG production at the first Golden Pass LNG train in the second half of 2025, “a 6-month slippage” from the previous estimate.
“We anticipate today that venture will basically be delayed by about six months,” Woods told analysts during the company’s recent third-quarter results report.
“So we expect to see first LNG out of that train in the back end of 2025, potentially slipping over into the new year, but it will be in that time frame that we see,” he said.
“And then, of course, after that, we anticipate about six months separation between the trains coming on,” he said.
Three-year extension
Golden Pass LNG recently also secured a three-year extension from the US FERC to put its LNG export facility in Texas into service.
Under the original FERC order from 2016, Golden Pass LNG was required to complete and place into service the LNG export terminal by December 21, 2021.
In response to an extension request filed by Golden Pass LNG in December 2019, FERC granted an extension of the in-service deadline until and including November 30, 2026.
In August this year, Golden Pass LNG requested that the Commission amends its prior authorizations to further extend the deadline for placing the export project facilities in service.
The JV said this period accounts for both the delays caused by the bankruptcy filing of Zachry Industrial, “remaining schedule uncertainties related to the transition to a new lead contractor (CB&I), and other possible delays outside of GPLNG’s control that may occur such as potential hurricane impacts, and for commissioning and start-up activities.”