Delfin takes $5B FID to go ahead on world’s largest FLNG vessel

MARAD Administrator Stephen M. Carmel: “What makes this project remarkable is not simply that it liquefies natural gas; what makes it remarkable is where, and how.”

Houston-based Delfin Midstream Inc. this week announced that it has taken a Final Investment Decision (FID) for the first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) vessel of the Delfin LNG project under development in Louisiana and offshore in the Gulf of America.

Delfin FLNG 1 will be the first floating liquefaction facility in the United States and the largest FLNG project globally, with an expected export capacity of 4.4 million tonnes of LNG per year.

The $5 billion FID was celebrated by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) which issued the facility’s deepwater port license, and which in January took over and streamlined the deepwater port licensing process. This is one of two deepwater port licenses Trump’s Transportation Department has issued–the other is for Texas GulfLink.

Delfin FLNG 1 expects production to begin in 2030, adding 4.4 million metric tons/year of LNG export capacity. Delfin plans to construct two additional floating LNG vessels that will be launched in the next year, bringing its total liquefaction capacity to 13.2 million mt/year. At full capacity, the facility will export roughly 1.8 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.

“What makes this project remarkable is not simply that it liquefies natural gas; what makes it remarkable is where, and how,” said MARAD Administrator Stephen M. Carmel. “This is the first offshore LNG export terminal ever licensed in the United States, and getting here took the better part of a decade. That patience is the price of doing something genuinely new. Every cargo that leaves this port is a commitment the United States is able to keep.”

“Thanks to President Trump, 18 months ago, on day one, he lifted the harmful ban on LGM exports. To date, there’s been 20 BCF of authorizations, including Delfin,” said Department of Energy Under Secretary Kyle Haustveit. “These are not just headlines–these are real projects.”

The Delfin FLNG 1 vessel will be constructed by Samsung Heavy Industries.

“Instead of building on land, we go out to the sea,” said Samsung Heavy Industry CEO and Vice-Chairman Choi Sung-an. “We are looking at smarter, faster, and more efficient ways to deliver energy to the world.”

Key project highlights:

• Delfin FLNG 1 is the largest FLNG project globally.
• The facility received its Deepwater Port license on May 25, 2025.
• The vessel will be constructed by Samsung Heavy Industries.
• The facility will be located in federal waters within the Outer Continental Shelf West Cameron Area of the Gulf of America, approximately 40.8 nautical miles off the coast of Cameron Parish, Louisiana. The port will operate in water depths of 72 feet.
• The project is backed by a group of investors including Global Infrastructure Partners, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, and Vitol. Project offtakers include Centrica, SEFE, Vitol, and Gunvor.