Qatar to Buy LNG From Woodside as It Scours for US Supply

By Rakteem Katakey and Elena Mazneva

Oct 29, 2026 (Bloomberg) –QatarEnergy agreed to purchase US liquefied natural gas from Woodside Energy Group Ltd. for two decades, saying it’s now the top buyer of the American fuel as it diversifies from the Middle East.

The Qatari state firm will purchase 3 million tons of LNG annually from the Louisiana LNG project that’s set to complete construction by 2029, Woodside said in a statement. Last week, QatarEnergy signed a contract with Cheniere Energy Inc. to buy 4 million tons a year starting in the early 2030s through 2054. 

Deliveries from Woodside are anticipated to commence in 2030, the Qatari company said separately. “These additional volumes make QatarEnergy the largest buyer of LNG from the US,” President and Chief Executive Officer Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi said, adding the move supports the company’s “long-term growth and diversification strategy.”

While neither of the recent US deals will help Qatar replace LNG volumes locked inside the Persian Gulf, they add to QatarEnergy’s future portfolio of supplies. Some capacities at the company’s Ras Laffan facilities in Qatar were damaged in the early days of the Iran war, and it will take years to repair them. Its expansion projects could also face delays if the conflict drags on. 

Read More: Qatar Rewrites Its Gas Playbook With Old Tankers and New Tactics

QatarEnergy also holds a joint venture in Golden Pass LNG in Texas, which is still in its startup phase and is eventually expected to have capacity to produce 18 million tons a year. For comparison, total LNG exports from Ras Laffan totaled 82 million tons in 2025, around a fifth of the global LNG trade.

For now, QatarEnergy is forced to dramatically reduce exports from undamaged LNG trains in the Gulf as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains risky. While more Qatari LNG left the region in October compared with the previous month, according to BloombergNEF analysis, there’ve been worries about potential cuts if the US renews strikes against Iran after the midterm elections next week. 

The company recently extended force majeure on deliveries to some buyers in Europe and Asia through the end of the year. 

For Woodside, the deal covers about 18% of combined capacity at the Louisiana project, which is expected to total 16.5 million tons a year. Last year, Woodside signed a 13-year deal with Germany’s Uniper SE for 1 million tons a year from the same facility.

© 2026 Bloomberg L.P.

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