The owners of the proposed Commonwealth LNG export facility in Louisiana announced supply deals with five major buyers as the company crossed a key threshold on its path to arranging the financing necessary for the $12.5 billion facility.

"These commitments from high-quality international partners are a testament to their confidence in the Commonwealth project and our ability to deliver a facility instrumental to their needs in serving the global energy market," said David Lawler, CEO of Caturus, the Houston-based company behind Commonwealth. "Our LNG export capability will be a key component of Caturus' wellhead to-water strategy in building the nation's leading independent integrated natural gas company."

LNG is the acronym for liquefied natural gas.

Commonwealth announced it has signed long-term sales agreements with Pittsburgh-based EQT LNG Trading, Malaysia’s Petronas LNG, Aramco Trading Americas, and Glencore and Mercuria Energy Trading, both of which are headquartered in Switzerland.

The finalization of these agreements effectively replaces capacity from a previous long-term deal with Japan's JERA, which was terminated on March 3 without a reason disclosed.

According to Caturus, up to 2,000 workers will be employed during construction, and the facility will provide 300 permanent jobs in Cameron Parish once it becomes operational.

The plant will generate an estimated $3.5 billion in annual export revenue, according to Caturus, with operations expected to begin in 2030.

The company has sold enough of the plant’s planned 9.5 million-ton-per year of capacity to satisfy lenders and expects to make a final decision on the investment soon.