BlackRock-Backed Delfin Midstream Takes FID on First US Floating LNG Terminal, Adding 4.4 MTPA by 2030

Delfin Midstream, a Houston-based LNG developer, took the final investment decision on its first floating LNG export vessel on June 3, 2026, committing $5 billion to build America's first offshore-sited liquefied natural gas terminal. The project is located in federal waters approximately 40 nautical miles offshore Cameron Parish, Louisiana, outside the jurisdiction of state environmental permitting. Samsung Heavy Industries of South Korea holds a $2.9 billion vessel construction contract. First LNG production is targeted for 2029 to 2030.

The BlackRock Connection

Global Infrastructure Partners, absorbed into BlackRock as its dedicated infrastructure investment arm following BlackRock's acquisition of GIP in 2024, is a key equity backer of Delfin FLNG 1. Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and commodity trading house Vitol also hold stakes in the project. Japanese bank MUFG arranged $3.6 billion in project financing, representing 72% of total capital expenditure. Long-term offtake contracts cover 90% of FLNG 1's 4.4 million tonnes per year of nameplate capacity before a single tonne of LNG has been produced.

Capital Intensity and the FLNG Advantage

At $5 billion in total capital expenditure for 4.4 MTPA of nameplate capacity, FLNG 1 carries a capital intensity of approximately $1.14 billion per annual tonne, computed by Oil Authority. Delfin's offshore siting eliminates coastal real estate acquisition, onshore gas treatment infrastructure, and state-level environmental review processes. The U.S. Maritime Administration licensed the project, with initial conditional approval granted in 2017. Onshore gas supply connects through the UTOS pipeline at Station 44 in Johnson Bayou, Louisiana.

Henry Hub Under Structural Pressure

Wood Mackenzie analysts indicated this week that the era of inexpensive Henry Hub natural gas is drawing to a close, citing LNG export capacity growth as a structural demand driver. Henry Hub front-month futures settled at $3.217 per MMBtu on Wednesday, based on commodity data from Yahoo Finance and OilPrice.com. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported U.S. baseload LNG export capacity of 11.44 billion cubic feet per day at the end of 2023, with a further 9.69 Bcf/d of capacity still under construction at that date. Should all of that under-construction capacity come online, total U.S. LNG export capacity could approach 21 Bcf/d, drawing substantially more domestic gas toward international markets.

Regulatory Path and Opposition

Delfin's regulatory path ran through MARAD under U.S. maritime law, not through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that governs land-based LNG facilities. The project received initial conditional approval in 2017 but stalled during the Biden administration's broad pause on new LNG export authorizations in early 2024. Final licensing came through under the Trump administration's Unleashing American Energy executive order. Environmental groups including Louisiana Bucket Brigade and Healthy Gulf have opposed the project, citing climate concerns, Gulf fisheries impacts, and pipeline safety risks following a recent explosion near Holly Beach.

The Delfin commitment adds to the LNG construction wave highlighted in a recent Oil Authority report on Baker Hughes' 13-year turbomachinery service agreement for Nigeria LNG Train 7 at Bonny Island. That onshore contract secured decades of maintenance capacity for an established land-based liquefaction train. Delfin FLNG 1 takes a structurally different approach, producing LNG on the offshore vessel itself with no onshore liquefaction infrastructure required. Both projects represent investment responding to what Wood Mackenzie describes as a structural shift away from cheap gas, with producers and developers building capacity ahead of projected Asian LNG demand through the 2030s.