Ranking
How long LNG units take to build
Years from the start of construction, and from proposal, to operation, for the LNG units now running that report both dates, plus where proposed units stand today.
Only finished units can be timed
A unit has to be operating to have a start year, so these are the times for units that were completed, from the 376 operating units in the September 2025 release. Units that stalled, were shelved or were cancelled are not in the first two tables and would lengthen any honest average; the last table shows what became of proposals.
Only 139 of those units report a construction year and 107 a proposal year, the rest are left out rather than estimated. Years are whole calendar years, so a figure can be a year out either way. Export and import are never pooled, floating units are kept apart, and a group with fewer than 5 units shows only its count.
From construction start to operation
Years between the year construction began and the year the unit started operating.
| Group | Units | Median | Middle half | Shortest to longest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Export, not tagged floating | 16 | 5 years | 2 years to 6 years | 1 to 11 years |
| Export, floating (FLNG) | 7 | 6 years | — | 0 to 7 years |
| Import, not tagged floating | 88 | 3 years | 3 years to 4 years | 0 to 11 years |
| Import, floating (FSRU and similar) | 28 | 2 years | 1 year to 3 years | 0 to 6 years |
The middle half (the 25th to 75th percentile) is shown from eight units. For the reasoning behind the groups see the guides on FSRU versus onshore regasification.
From proposal to operation
Years between the year the unit was proposed and the year it started operating.
| Group | Units | Median | Middle half | Shortest to longest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Export, not tagged floating | 21 | 7 years | 6 years to 7 years | 3 to 16 years |
| Export, floating (FLNG) | 4 | Too few units | — | — |
| Import, not tagged floating | 54 | 5 years | 4 years to 7 years | 1 to 15 years |
| Import, floating (FSRU and similar) | 28 | 2.5 years | 1 year to 4.3 years | 0 to 11 years |
The middle half (the 25th to 75th percentile) is shown from eight units. For the reasoning behind the groups see the guides on FSRU versus onshore regasification.
Where proposed units stand today
Units that report a proposal year, by the decade proposed and the status they have now. Current status only: it does not say why a project stopped.
Export (liquefaction)
| Proposed | Units | Operating | Under construction | Proposed | Shelved | Cancelled | Other | Share operating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 and earlier | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| 2000s | 16 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 19% |
| 2010s | 86 | 18 | 3 | 29 | 11 | 25 | 0 | 21% |
| 2020s | 84 | 3 | 6 | 58 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 4% |
Import (regasification)
| Proposed | Units | Operating | Under construction | Proposed | Shelved | Cancelled | Other | Share operating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 and earlier | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
| 2000s | 35 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 37% |
| 2010s | 180 | 48 | 11 | 34 | 23 | 63 | 1 | 27% |
| 2020s | 183 | 18 | 21 | 93 | 35 | 13 | 3 | 10% |
“Other” is idle, mothballed, retired and pre-construction units. Units are counted, not terminals, and capacity is not summed across statuses. Proposals from the 2020s have had the least time, so their low share operating is not comparable with earlier decades. GEM infers shelved after two years without development updates and cancelled after four, so a status is often a finding of inactivity; see cancelled and shelved for the detail, and the construction timeline for units being built now.
Common questions
Each answer stands on its own.
- How long does it take to build an LNG import terminal?
- For import units now operating that report both years, the median is 3 years from the start of construction to operation for units not tagged floating (88 units), and 2 years for floating units such as FSRUs (28 units). This is how long units that were finished took, and it does not include any that stalled.
- How long from proposal to operation for an LNG export plant?
- Among export units not tagged floating that report both years, the median is 7 years from the year proposed to the year operation began (21 units, ranging from 3 to 16 years). Units that were proposed and never built are not in this figure, so it understates how long proposals take overall.
- Why is there no figure for some groups?
- A summary needs at least 5 units. Where fewer report both years, the table shows the count and nothing else, because a median of two or three units says little.
- Does this say how many proposed projects get built?
- Partly. The last table shows where units proposed in each decade stand today, but a proposal from the last few years has had little time to progress, so the decades are not comparable with each other, and current status says nothing about why a project stopped.
- Are these forecasts for projects now being built?
- No. They describe units that have already started operating. Units under construction have a planned start year instead, shown on the construction timeline.
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