It goes without saying, there’s no fast, easy, or cheap way to get a new LNG export plant off the ground. These are humongous, crazy-expensive projects to send volumes of prolific U.S. natural gas to world destinations hungry for them, and they require a whole lotta tap-dancing to ever see the light of day.

Reese Energy Consulting today is following the latest news on Houston-based Tellurian and its years-long quest to make the proposed Driftwood LNG facility on the La., Gulf Coast an eventual reality. By its very nature, the process to take an LNG project from whiteboard to a living, producing 27.6 Mtpa export facility doesn’t come without bumps and potholes in the road. But Tellurian’s journey has been especially fraught with struggle. Its previous business model and leadership drama have hamstrung its ability to lock in purchase agreements and secure investor financing to advance.

That saga has now reached a dramatic conclusion coming from the other side of the world. Australian energy giant Woodside Energy, which tomorrow will ring in its 70^th year, has sealed a $900 million dollar deal for Tellurian’s fully permitted Driftwood LNG project currently under pre-FID Phase I construction. Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill looks to create a “dream team” of international and U.S. LNG partners to chip in 50% of development costs to get trains humming and LNG on the water. The company plans to make a FID early next year on the plant’s first phase. The deal with Tellurian is expected to close by year end.