Bechtel Port Arthur LNG: EPC Contract & 2026 Progress

Bechtel Port Arthur LNG is the EPC contract underpinning one of the largest LNG export projects currently under construction in the United States. Sempra Infrastructure awarded Bechtel the engineering, procurement, and construction contract for Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 — a 13.5 MTPA two-train liquefaction facility on the Sabine-Neches Waterway in Jefferson County, Texas — following a final investment decision in early 2023. At full capacity, Port Arthur LNG will rank among the highest-output single-site LNG export terminals in North America.

Project Scope and Contract Structure

The Bechtel Port Arthur LNG EPC contract covers the full Phase 1 scope: two liquefaction trains using Air Products’ AP-C3MR technology, LNG storage tanks, marine loading infrastructure, and associated utilities across the 984-acre site. The contract is structured as a lump-sum turnkey agreement — a contracting model that places schedule and cost delivery risk squarely with Bechtel rather than the owner, and one that Sempra used successfully on its Cameron LNG project in Louisiana, also executed by Bechtel.

Phase 1’s 13.5 MTPA capacity is underpinned by long-term sale and purchase agreements with a portfolio of international buyers. Saudi Aramco holds an off-take agreement for 5 MTPA — one of the largest single LNG off-take commitments from a Gulf national oil company to a US export project. ConocoPhillips and RWE hold further capacity positions, giving Port Arthur LNG an off-take structure weighted toward creditworthy counterparties across Asia and Europe.

Bechtel’s Role and Construction Progress

Bechtel mobilised at the Port Arthur site following FID in 2023, with construction advancing through 2024 and into 2025 across civil foundations, structural steel, and early mechanical installation. As of 2026, the project is in the heavy mechanical phase — the most labour-intensive construction period for an LNG terminal, covering heat exchanger installation, cold box assembly, cryogenic piping, and LNG tank construction running in parallel with the liquefaction train builds.

Bechtel’s execution model at Port Arthur mirrors the approach it applied at Sabine Pass and Freeport LNG — modular fabrication of process components at offsite facilities, with modules transported to site for installation, reducing the density of concurrent trades working in confined spaces. This approach has been central to Bechtel’s ability to manage schedule on large LNG projects, where cryogenic system commissioning sequences place hard constraints on the order of mechanical completion across interdependent systems. For the full context of Bechtel’s LNG terminal portfolio and EPC methodology, the Bechtel LNG terminal and energy infrastructure profile covers the company’s project history across Sabine Pass, Freeport, and Corpus Christi.

Port Arthur LNG in Sempra’s Export Portfolio

Port Arthur LNG is the centrepiece of Sempra Infrastructure’s current capital programme. Sempra’s LNG export portfolio — which already includes the operational Cameron LNG facility in Louisiana and the ECA LNG terminal in Baja California, Mexico — expands significantly when Port Arthur Phase 1 enters service. The combined Sempra LNG export position post-completion would place the company among the largest US LNG export capacity holders by nameplate volume. Sempra’s full terminal network, off-take structure, and Phase 2 expansion plans are detailed in the Sempra LNG infrastructure profile.

A Phase 2 expansion at Port Arthur — targeting an additional two trains and a further capacity increment — has been outlined by Sempra, subject to a separate FID. Phase 2 feasibility benefits directly from the site infrastructure, marine access, and utilities established under Phase 1, reducing the incremental capital cost per MTPA for any expansion. Bechtel’s incumbency as Phase 1 EPC contractor positions it as the natural candidate for Phase 2 EPC work, though no contract award has been announced as of 2026.

Strategic Significance for the US LNG Export Market

Port Arthur LNG’s entry into service will add material new supply to the global LNG market at a point when demand growth in Asia — particularly in India, which lacks the long-term contract coverage of Japan and South Korea — is absorbing incremental volumes. The Saudi Aramco off-take position is strategically notable: it represents Aramco moving downstream into LNG trading and signals the Gulf producer’s intent to participate in the global gas market beyond its domestic position.

For Bechtel, Port Arthur LNG extends a construction track record in US LNG export that is unmatched by any other EPC contractor. Among the top LNG export terminals ranked by capacity, the facilities Bechtel has built or is building account for a dominant share of US nameplate export capacity. That track record is a commercial asset in bidding for future LNG projects — both in the United States, where additional Gulf Coast capacity proposals remain in development, and internationally, where Bechtel competes for LNG EPC contracts in Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

Bechtel Port Arthur LNG — Project Snapshot