JERA terminated its 1mtpa offtake agreement with Commonwealth LNG effective 3 March, but the project barely paused.
EQT and Glencore backfilled the lost volumes within weeks, bringing total contracted capacity to around 8 of 9.5mtpa. Commonwealth is now launching lender discussions ahead of an FID expected this month.
JERA, the world's largest corporate LNG buyer, terminated its 20-year sale and purchase agreement with Commonwealth LNG effective 3 March 2026.
The deal, signed in June 2025, covered 1mtpa from the planned 9.5mtpa export facility in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. Neither party disclosed reasons.
The filing, submitted to the US Department of Energy on 1 April, was the first change to the suite of four US SPAs that JERA signed last summer. Its contracts with NextDecade (2mtpa), Sempra (1.5mtpa), and Cheniere (1mtpa) remain intact.
Slippage
No reason was given, but a commercial logic offers itself. On 3 February, JERA signed a 3mtpa, 27-year SPA with QatarEnergy on a delivered ex-ship basis, with deliveries due from 2028. DES from Ras Laffan delivers to JERA's door; FOB from Cameron Parish requires JERA to arrange its own tonnage for a substantially longer voyage.
Commonwealth, meanwhile, had pushed back its FID target four times and slipped its first-LNG date from 2029 to 2031. With 3mtpa of Qatari supply secured, retaining 1mtpa from a project that had not yet broken ground was difficult to justify.
The termination took effect on 3 March, days after the onset of the Iran conflict. The decision was likely set in motion weeks earlier.
By the time the paperwork was formalised, the calculus had shifted: Iranian strikes on Ras Laffan forced QatarEnergy to declare force majeure, and the contract that underwrote JERA's confidence is now suspended indefinitely.
Two Qatari carriers, Al Daayen and Rasheeda, loaded in late February, attempted to transit Hormuz on 6 April and turned back.
No laden LNG tanker has completed the passage since the conflict began.
Backfill
EQT signed an additional 1mtpa SPA with Commonwealth on 3 March, the same date as the JERA termination, bringing its total commitment to 2mtpa.
Three weeks later, Glencore added another 1mtpa, raising its contracted volumes to 3mtpa, nearly a third of the project's total capacity.
Commonwealth's buyer roster now comprises Glencore, EQT, Petronas, Mercuria, and Aramco Trading, with around 8mtpa under binding agreements.
The speed of the backfill reflects the structural flexibility of the US tolling model.
Pre-FID SPAs are modular: if one buyer exits, the developer replaces the volume and moves on. Commonwealth's offtaker base is arguably more resilient after the reshuffle, with a mix of trading houses, national oil companies, and a US producer in place of a single utility.
Outlook
Caturus, Kimmeridge's LNG and gas unit in which Mubadala holds a 24.1pct stake, confirmed on 7 April that Commonwealth had achieved full commercialisation and is launching formal discussions with lenders.
Ben Dell, Kimmeridge's managing partner, indicated last week that FID is expected in April. Site preparation began in early March, with overall progress below 5pct. (April 15, 2026)
UNITED STATES - LNG - SUPPLIES - IMPORTS - EXPORTS