Golden Pass LNG Terminal LLC and Golden Pass Pipeline LP, joint ventures between Qatar Petroleum, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, first submitted paperwork for approval of the Golden Pass LNG Terminal and related pipeline to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in November 2003. The project underwent a series of approval processes, and in July 2005, the Golden Pass LNG terminal and pipeline were approved.

Located two miles northwest of Sabine Pass, Texas, and 10 miles south of Port Arthur, Texas, the Golden Pass LNG Terminal is situated on the Sabine-Neches Waterway that separates Texas and Louisiana. The LNG terminal will include two ship unloading berths, five full-containment storage tanks, vaporization facilities, and gas send-out and ship unloading systems. The $1 billion contract for engineering, procurement and construction of the project was awarded to Chicago Bridge & Iron Company NV (CB&I) in August 2006. Construction began on the terminal the following month, with operation start-up slated for mid-2009 and total construction completion planned for 2010.

On September 28, 2010, Golden Pass announced that it expected to receive its first LNG cargo during October 2010. The commissioning cargo was en route from Ras Laffan, Qatar via a Q-Flex LNG carrier.

LNG will be shipped to the Golden Pass LNG Terminal primarily from the Ras Laffan 3 and Qatargas 3 projects in Qatar. The terminal will then re-gasify the hydrocarbons. Processing capacity for the terminal is 15.6 million metric tons per year of LNG, which is comparable to 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day.

Natural gas will be sent from the Golden Pass LNG Terminal by pipeline to US markets. In addition to the LNG terminal, the project scope includes the Golden Pass Pipeline, which is a 42-inch pipeline that will span 68 miles across four Texas counties and one Louisiana parish to connect with 11 interstate and intrastate pipelines, as well as a short pipeline that will tie-in to the Beaumont industrial area. Start-up for the pipeline coincides with the terminal start-up.

According to the Gulf Times DOHA, the Golden Pass Terminal will receive a third of the gas imports to the US, or 20 million tons, in two to three years of operation start up.