Michael Smith
Freeport LNG
Chairman, CEO & Founder
Michael Smith founded Freeport LNG Development, L.P in 2002 and is the company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and majority shareholder. Freeport LNG Development, L.P. owns and operates an LNG terminal on Quintana Island, near Freeport, Texas. It is the seventh largest LNG export facility in the world and the second largest in the United States. The terminal began LNG import operations in June 2008. In May of 2020, Freeport LNG began full, commercial LNG export operations of its three natural gas liquefaction trains. In excess of 15 million metric tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG is produced from Freeport’s trains. A fourth liquefaction train remains under development and has received all regulatory approvals. Of the 15 mtpa of Freeport LNG’s export capacity, 13.4 mtpa has been sold to Osaka Gas Co., Ltd., JERA Co., Inc., BP Energy Company, Total Energies and SK E&S LNG, LLC. Mr. Smith previously founded Basin Exploration, Inc. in 1981 and served as its Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President. Basin was a publicly traded oil and gas company active in the Gulf of Mexico and the Rocky Mountain Region. Mr. Smith successfully negotiated the sale of the company to Stone Energy in February 2001 in a $410 million stock for stock merger.
