Golden Pass predicts the project will create about 9,000 construction jobs over the five-year construction period and more than 200 permanent jobs once the facility open. If the project gets underway by the first quarter like Golden Pass expects, it believes the terminal will be open by 2024.

Golden Pass predicts the project will create about 9,000 construction jobs over the five-year construction period and more than 200 permanent jobs once the facility open. If the project gets underway by the first quarter like Golden Pass expects, it believes the terminal will be open by 2024.

"Our team has worked diligently on the design, development and permitting for this world-class LNG export facility, and we are eager to begin construction to bring this exciting project to life," Sean Ryan, president of Golden Pass Products, said in a statement.

The company also announced it had created a 20-year transportation agreement with Enable Midstream Partner and secured pipeline capacity with the Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America (NGPL). It expects the project will have a capacity of about 16 million tons of liquid natural gas per year, according to a statement from the company.

The Golden Pass LNG Terminal is a joint venture originally created by Qatar Petroleum, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips.

The project has been in earnest development since at least 2013, and was updated again in 2015 when the company put out an open call to companies throughout Southeast Texas to register contracts and partnerships related to the expansion. It obtained its final environmental impact statement in 2016, one of the final steps before securing approval from the federal government.

The Golden Pass terminal was originally built in 2009 to import liquid natural gas from abroad, but changed direction after a domestic boom in gas production fueled by advances in fracking.

The terminal became one of a number of construction and expansion projects planned by companies to increase exports of petroleum products instead of accepting imports. In January of 2017 alone, there were seven facilities under construction and another four that had been approved.

"Golden Pass will provide an increased, reliable, long-term supply of liquefied natural gas to global gas markets, stimulate local growth and create thousands of jobs," said Darren Woods, chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corporation said in a statement.

The terminal can currently export 15.6 million metric tons of LNG per year, or around 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, according to the company.

Engineering, procurement and construction contracts were given to a collaboration effort between Chiyoda International Corporation, McDermott International Inc. and Zachry Group.

The facility expansion is part of Qatar Petroleum's overall plans to invest about $20 billion in the United States to increase its overseas oil and gas footprint. Qatar announced in December that it would be leaving the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) after the first of the year. While the country was one of the smallest oil producers in OPEC, it is one of the largest producers of liquefied natural gas in the world.