Delfin Midstream and Golar LNG Ltd. said they have signed an agreement to develop the Delfin LNG project off the coast of Cameron Parish, La., utilizing Golar’s floating LNG (FLNG) technology. The agreement covers financing, marketing, construction, development and operation of Delfin LNG.

Delfin LNG is the first and only permitted floating LNG export project in the U.S. Delfin LNG is a brownfield deepwater port that can support up to four FLNG vessels with little added infrastructure. The capacity of the project is up to 13 mtpa.

Delfin purchased the UTOS pipeline, the largest natural gas pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico, in 2014 and submitted its deepwater port license application in 2015. The project received approval from the U.S. Maritime Administration on March 13.

On June 1, Delfin received approval from the U.S. Department of Energy to export LNG to countries without a free trade agreement with the United States.

Golar designed, financed, contracted and built its first FLNG vessel, the FLNG Hilli Episeyo, which is scheduled to sail from Keppel shipyard in third-quarter 2017. A second vessel of the same design, FLNG Gandria, will be converted, subject to a final investment decision (FID) by the Fortuna project partners.

Golar is developing the Mark II next-generation floating liquefaction solution based on its Hilli and Gandria designs. Mark II will have a liquefaction capacity of more than 3 million mtpa.

An FID on the Delfin project is expected in 2018 with first LNG delivered in 2021-2022.

“Golar’s proven execution model will allow Delfin to deliver the lowest-cost liquefaction solution in the North American market with a construction time of less than three years,” said Golar CEO Oscar Spieler. “Golar’s low-cost modular floating technology will allow Delfin to make final investment decisions in 3 mmtpa increments at a lower unit cost than large land-based projects.”

Frederick Jones, CEO and chairman of Delfin, said, “We look forward to working with Golar to deliver the first floating liquefaction project in North America and lead the second wave of U.S. LNG projects. Golar’s flexible, floating liquefaction model has proven to be the world’s lowest cost liquefaction solution allowing Delfin to offer innovative commercial solutions with reduced credit requirements, mid-term offtake contracts (approximately 10 years) and FOB and DES LNG pricing based on fixed price, S curves or tied to a variety of energy indexes.”

—Staff Reports