The Art of the StealA project of the Save America Movement
Donate

★ Government Action

Trump's Energy Department grants Commonwealth LNG first post-pause export license

Corporate FavorsFossil Fuel Deregulation

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 enabled it

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.

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.

Actors

Who pushed it · 3

Who initiated, paid, or pushed the action.

  • Chris Wright

    Issued DOE/FECM Order No. 5238 on February 14, 2025, conditionally authorizing Commonwealth LNG to export to non-FTA countries — the first LNG export approval after the Biden pause was lifted.

  • Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan
    Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan

    Chairman of Mubadala Investment Company, the Abu Dhabi sovereign-wealth fund whose wholly-owned subsidiary Mubadala Energy holds a 24.1% stake in Caturus LNG, the parent of Commonwealth LNG. Sits atop the beneficial-ownership chain that received the first post-pause non-FTA export authorization issued under DOE/FECM Order No. 5238.

  • U.S. Department of Energy

    Issuing agency for DOE/FECM Order No. 5238 under the Natural Gas Act; the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management evaluates and approves LNG export authorizations to non-FTA countries.

Beneficiaries

Who gained · 1

Who stood to gain.

  • Commonwealth LNG

    Direct beneficiary of DOE/FECM Order No. 5238. Authorized to export up to 9.5 MTPA of LNG from its Cameron Parish, Louisiana facility to non-FTA countries in Asia and Europe. Had waited longer than any other developer for the post-pause approval.

Sources

Further reading