“In the US, the repeal of the LNG permitting moratorium and the Administration’s stated goal of increasing US LNG exports has led to an improvement in orders for US LNG projects,” Simonelli said during the first-quarter earnings call on Wednesday.
Simonelli said that Baker Hughes secured $510 million in LNG equipment orders in the first quarter of this year.
“We secured an order for a liquefaction train in North America. We will provide four main refrigerant compressors driven by LM6000 gas turbines and four expander-compressors,” he said.
He also said that the company booked a gas infrastructure order for feed gas compression from a “major US LNG operator.”
During the fourth quarter of 2024, Baker Hughes booked about $1.4 billion in LNG orders and $2.1 billion during the entire last year.
“Given this positive backdrop, several key LNG customers in the Gulf Coast are indicating plans to further expand capacity beyond 2030. This offers greater clarity regarding the potential increase in installed capacity above the anticipated 800 mtpa by the end of the decade,” Simonelli said.
Over 120 mtpa of LNG
He noted that Baker Hughes signed key strategic framework agreements with NextDecade and Argent LNG during the first quarter, growing the company’s pipeline of potential orders.
For NextDecade, the scope includes equipment for five additional trains, totaling 30 mtpa of liquefaction capacity at the Rio Grande LNG facility.
Moreover, Argent LNG has selected Baker Hughes to provide liquefaction, power solutions, and related aftermarket services for its proposed 24 mtpa LNG export facility in Louisiana.
“Including NextDecade and Argent, we now have LNG supply agreements in place for over 120 mtpa,” Simonelli said.
“This provides visibility for potential LNG equipment orders into the latter part of this decade,” he said.
“So, as you look at overall, we’ve got a growing number of LNG customers, and we have supply agreements in place for over 120 mtpa of LNG, and we’ve seen a good increase in offtake agreements and equity investments by LNG players, which further strengthens our confidence on the outlook for this year and beyond,” Simonelli said.
“So, as you look at 2025 and also 2026, again, we feel good about the 100 mtpa of FIDs that make us reach the 800 mtpa by 2030. And we also think we’ll surpass that 800 mtpa as we go beyond 2030. So LNG continues to be good,” he said.
