What LNG terminals and gas pipelines are estimated to cost

Summed is the total cost of the units with both figures divided by their total capacity, so large units weigh more; the median is the middle unit’s own ratio, which one very large or very small unit cannot move. Units are in the terminal directory.

Summed is the total cost of the units with both figures divided by their total capacity, so large units weigh more; the median is the middle unit’s own ratio, which one very large or very small unit cannot move. Units are in the terminal directory.

“Not tagged floating” is every import unit not marked FSRU, FLNG or floating. It is almost certainly onshore, but that is an inference from an absent tag, not a count GEM confirms. The figures say what the tracker reports, not why the two groups differ; for the engineering trade-offs see FSRU vs onshore regasification and the comparison.

Largest estimated project costs

A cost can cover more than the pipeline’s listed length (a terminal connection or an offshore section, say), so read the length column as GEM’s figure for the pipeline, not necessarily the scope of the cost. See data coverage for how many pipelines report each field.

How much does an LNG export terminal cost per tonne of capacity?

Across the 76 operating export units that report both a cost and a capacity, the summed estimate works out to $1,316 per tonne a year, and the middle unit's own figure is $800. For the 25 units under construction it is $960 (median $1,000). These are Global Energy Monitor's estimates, converted to US dollars and not adjusted for inflation, so units built in different decades are not like for like.

Are FSRUs cheaper than onshore regasification terminals?

Among operating import units that report a cost and a capacity, the 15 tagged as floating work out to $123 per tonne a year and the 72 not tagged floating to $218. The second group is every import unit not tagged as floating, which is almost certainly onshore but is inferred from an absent tag, and the figures do not say why they differ.

Where do these costs come from, and can I trust them?

They are the cost fields in Global Energy Monitor's Global Gas Infrastructure Tracker (September 2025). Each is an estimate recorded at the date GEM last updated that entry, in the project's own currency, which GEM then converts to US dollars. Treat them as order-of-magnitude figures: they mix estimated and reported costs, different years and different scopes.

Why is there no total cost of the LNG industry here?

A total would add estimates made in different years and currencies across projects that are operating, being built and only proposed. That figure would describe nothing real, so each status is shown on its own, and a unit with no cost reported adds nothing instead of counting as zero.

How many projects report a cost at all?

437 of 1,206 terminal units report an estimated cost and 1,323 of 4,246 pipelines do. The rest are not estimated here; they simply have no cost in the source. The data coverage page counts every field the same way.