U.S. LNG export project nears FID: Samsung Heavy Industries in charge of first FLNG with two more on the menu

October 23, 2025, by Melisa Cavcic

U.S.-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) export infrastructure development company Delfin Midstream has entrusted South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) with the work on the first floating LNG (FLNG) unit for its American LNG project, which is under development in Louisiana, United States.

Months after Delfin Midstream hired Siemens Energy to reserve manufacturing capacity for four SGT-750 gas turbine mechanical drive packages and agreed to an early works program with Samsung Heavy Industries and Black & Veatch to further detail FLNG vessel design specifications as the basis for the lump-sum turn-key engineering, procurement, construction, and integration (EPCI) contract, the company has entered into a letter of award with SHI as the exclusive EPCI contractor for the first FLNG.

Dudley Poston, Delfin’s CEO, highlighted: “We are very pleased with the commercial and financing workstreams closing in for an FID on the Delfin LNG project. With this LOA we further strengthen our construction pathway, not just for the first but also the second and third FLNG vessels.

“Finally, we are excited that the Delfin project can foster increased cooperation in trade, energy and shipbuilding between the Republic of Korea and the USA.”

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The firm explains that it is entitled to the exclusive rights to Samsung Heavy Industries’ dock for the construction of the first FLNG. This LOA enables the due to agree to begin an early engagement scope of work, mobilize project teams, de-risk the overall project schedule, and prepare for imminent execution.

After securing the manufacturing capacity for the FLNG vessel’s gas turbines from Siemens Energy, Delfin has significantly progressed both its debt and equity financing to pave the way toward the final investment decision (FID) in November 2025 for this U.S. energy infrastructure project offshore Louisiana.

With the progress toward the FID for the first FLNG in mind, the companies have set their cap on strengthening their partnership before the second and third FLNG vessels for the project, agreeing to a dock reservation scheme for the second unit following FID for the first one.

While this is expected to enable Delfin to take the FID in early 2026 for the second FLNG, the two players plan to jointly develop strategic business and trade opportunities for the third one, including shipbuilding cooperation.

The U.S. firm’s brownfield deepwater port requires minimal additional infrastructure investment to support up to three floating LNG vessels producing up to 13.2 million tonnes of LNG annually.

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The company claims that its project has the potential to be the first LNG export deepwater port facility in the United States. Delfin also bought the UTOS pipeline, said to be the largest natural gas pipeline in the Gulf of America (Gulf of Mexico).

The firm’s LNG project already received a deepwater port license from the Maritime Administration (MARAD) and approval from the Department of Energy for long-term exports of LNG to countries that do not have a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States.

While some energy analysts warn about the potential LNG glut in the coming years, others are also concerned with the greater scrutiny a wave of U.S. LNG projects is facing in the wake of a recent court ruling in Louisiana, which axed a permit for another U.S. LNG export terminal due to climate change concerns.