★ Government Action
Trump's Energy Department grants Commonwealth LNG first post-pause export license
Filed February 2025
★ The Brief
What happened
On February 14, 2025, Energy Secretary Chris Wright issued DOE Order No. 5238, conditionally authorizing Commonwealth LNG to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries lacking free-trade agreements with the U.S. from its proposed Cameron Parish, Louisiana terminal.
Who benefits
Deal or steal?
Commonwealth LNG's parent is 24.1% owned by Mubadala Energy, whose parent is chaired by UAE Vice President Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed. His brother Sheikh Tahnoon controls vehicles that bought 49% of Trump's DeFi venture for $500M and acquired a Binance stake using $2B of Trump-family stablecoin, weeks before this approval.
★ Cast your vote
On February 14, 2025, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright issued DOE/FECM Order No. 5238, conditionally authorizing Commonwealth LNG to export liquefied natural gas to non-FTA countries from its proposed 9.5 million metric ton per annum export plant in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. The approval was the first LNG export authorization issued after Trump's January 20 executive order ended the Biden administration's freeze on new permits, and the first export license Commonwealth had pursued for non-FTA destinations — primarily markets in Asia and Europe. Commonwealth LNG sat within the Kimmeridge SoTex HoldCo LLC platform at the time of the approval; in April 2025, Abu Dhabi state-owned Mubadala Energy announced a 24.1% equity stake in the parent, with the deal closing on August 8, 2025 and the platform rebranded Caturus. The conditional authorization paved the way for Commonwealth's planned final investment decision in September 2025, with first LNG production targeted for early 2029.
Sources
- Mubadala Energy · August 8, 2025mubadalaenergy.comMubadala Energy Closes Strategic Investment in U.S. Natural Gas and LNG Sector with Kimmeridge
- U.S. Department of Energy · February 14, 2025energy.govSecretary Wright Issues First LNG Export Approval for Commonwealth LNG
- Reuters · February 14, 2025reuters.comTrump approves LNG exports, creates energy council to boost US oil, gas
- Mubadala Investment Company · January 1, 2025mubadala.comMubadala Investment Company — Board of Directors
Further reading
- ★ Government ActionJanuary 2025Trump restarts stalled natural gas export approvals paused by Biden
- ★ Government ActionFebruary 2025Trump creates National Energy Dominance Council chaired by Burgum
- ★ Government ActionMarch 2026Trump's Interior Department generates record $164M from Alaska oil lease sale
- ★ Government ActionOctober 2025Interior reopens 1.56-million-acre ANWR Coastal Plain to oil and gas leasing
- ★ Government ActionJuly 2025Trump order expedites federal permits for AI data centers
- ★ Government ActionJuly 2025Trump tax law lets oil drillers dodge the corporate minimum tax