The week produced the largest single AI infrastructure lease ever signed. Anthropic executed a 20 year, $19 billion lease with TeraWulf for the entire Justified Data campus in Hawesville, Kentucky, a 401 MW purpose built AI infrastructure site being redeveloped on the footprint of the former Century Aluminum smelter. On the LNG side, Argent LNG awarded engineering services to GIS Engineering for its proposed 25 MMtpa Port Fourchon export terminal in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, the largest single US LNG capacity plan currently in permitting. Commonwealth LNG named Yokogawa as main automation contractor on the $13.5 billion Cameron Parish project, confirming that Technip Energies EPC mobilization is underway and that instrumentation and controls procurement is now flowing. Glenfarne issued a Limited Notice to Proceed to Kiewit for its 4 MTPA Texas LNG project in Brownsville, releasing long lead equipment purchase orders and engineering. Williams Companies is reportedly in advanced discussions to acquire Momentum Midstream for approximately $5.5 billion. National Grid Ventures put $1.75 billion into a new US power platform called Joulent for a 35 percent stake, anchoring the 2.67 GW Chevron Project Kilby power plant that supplies Microsoft's Pecos AI campus. And the June US construction employment report confirmed 11,000 jobs added, with the industry now at 8.331 million workers and craft wages holding at $41.36 per hour. Every category of scope, LNG, power, data centers, and midstream, moved simultaneously into procurement, mobilization, or execution phase this week.
Anthropic and TeraWulf Sign $19 Billion, 401 MW AI Infrastructure Lease at Hawesville, Kentucky
TeraWulf announced on July 6 that its subsidiary Raylan Data LLC executed a 20 year lease with Anthropic PBC for the entire Justified Data campus in Hawesville, Kentucky. The lease is expected to generate approximately $19 billion of contracted revenue over the initial term, making it the largest single AI infrastructure lease agreement ever announced. The campus will accommodate approximately 401 MW of critical IT load, developed in multiple phases, with initial capacity placed in service during the second half of 2027 and full ramp to 401 MW by early 2028. The lease is supported by an investment grade credit profile.
The campus sits on a 750 acre parcel in Hancock County, Kentucky, about an hour southwest of Louisville on the Ohio River. TeraWulf, through Justified DataPower LLC, acquired the site in February 2026 for $200 million from Century Aluminum, which retained a 6.8 percent non dilutive equity interest in the redevelopment entity. Century Aluminum idled its Hawesville smelter in 2022 after energy costs made the plant uneconomical, a shutdown that cost Hancock County approximately 680 jobs. The existing 750 acre site retains major transmission and industrial infrastructure that materially compresses the buildout schedule. TeraWulf has stated that its own capital investment in the campus will fall in the $3 billion to $4 billion range.
The strategic pattern here is important. A former heavy industry site with existing power and grid infrastructure is being converted to serve one of the top three frontier AI model developers. The Anthropic lease is roughly the same scale as the Hut 8 Beacon Point Nueces County Texas hyperscaler lease from three weeks ago (352 MW Phase 1, $9.8 billion 15 year lease). Together, the two deals represent nearly $29 billion of long duration AI infrastructure revenue committed in a four week window. Every remaining hyperscaler and frontier model lab is now going to have to close a deal of similar scale to secure comparable power and capacity, and the same fabricators and contractors are going to be asked to deliver the buildings, cooling, electrical, and structural scope that make it real.
Argent LNG Awards Engineering on 25 MMtpa Port Fourchon Terminal, Louisiana's Largest LNG Plan in Permitting
Argent LNG announced on July 6 that it awarded GIS Engineering a contract to provide marine, environmental, and site engineering services in support of FERC permitting for its proposed Port Fourchon LNG export terminal in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana. The proposed facility carries a nameplate capacity of 25 million metric tons per year of liquefaction, which would make Port Fourchon the largest single US LNG plant currently in permitting. Argent's plan positions Port Fourchon inside the deep water Gulf Coast infrastructure corridor that already serves offshore oil and gas fabrication and offshore vessel operations.
Argent LNG is a wholly owned subsidiary of Argent Energy. The Port Fourchon plan sits alongside the existing Louisiana LNG buildout at Lake Charles, which just closed $2.5 billion in Stonepeak private bonds, and alongside Commonwealth LNG at Cameron Parish, which took final investment decision on a 9.5 MTPA facility with a $13.5 billion capital line in May. It also sits alongside the newly sanctioned Delfin FLNG 1 floating LNG vessel authorized under a US deepwater port license this month. The combined US LNG capacity in permitting, construction, and sanctioned status now exceeds 100 MMtpa of new liquefaction over the balance of the decade.
The site selection matters. Port Fourchon is the primary onshore support base for Gulf of Mexico deepwater oil and gas operations and already anchors the offshore energy fabrication industry in south Louisiana. Locating a 25 MMtpa LNG terminal at the same port unifies the offshore hydrocarbon and LNG export logistics into one industrial footprint, and does so in a Louisiana parish that already houses the craft labor pool, marine construction expertise, and vessel logistics required to execute the scope.
Commonwealth LNG Locks In Yokogawa MAC as Technip Energies EPC Mobilizes at Cameron Parish
Caturus LLC's Commonwealth LNG subsidiary announced on July 7 that it selected Yokogawa Corporation of America as main automation contractor (MAC) for its proposed $13.5 billion LNG export project on the west bank of the Calcasieu Ship Channel in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. The award was granted through Technip Energies, the project's main EPC contractor. Yokogawa's scope covers engineering and design services, delivery of the integrated control and safety system (ICSS), system integration, and project execution support. System deliveries are scheduled across 2027. Commonwealth LNG reached formal FID in May 2026 with $9.75 billion of project financing subsequently closed on June 13. Pre construction and initial site preparation began in December 2025, and EPC site mobilization on the terminal itself was initiated in March 2026. The facility will have a total liquefaction capacity of approximately 9.5 million metric tons per year across six liquefaction trains, plus LNG storage and export facilities.
The Yokogawa MAC award is a meaningful signal of construction phase acceleration. Instrumentation and control systems are the nervous system of a liquefaction plant. When the MAC contract is placed, the ICSS engineering integrates with mechanical, piping, and electrical detailed design, and the sequencing that governs shop and field fabrication begins to firm up. It is the last major categorical procurement placed before the shop and field workforce ramp begins in earnest. On this timeline, Commonwealth LNG is entering the phase where fabricators and specialty EPC firms are being asked to demonstrate real shop capacity and real credentialed craft mobilization plans.
Separately, Glenfarne issued a Limited Notice to Proceed to Kiewit on July 2 for its 4 million tonne per year Texas LNG export project in Brownsville, Texas. The LNTP authorizes Kiewit to place purchase orders for long lead equipment, execute engineering activities in support of the EPC phase, and complete geotechnical work required to prepare the site for full construction and formal FID. Kiewit is one of the largest US industrial contractors, and the LNTP release is a strong indicator that Texas LNG is on a formal FID trajectory. XRG (an Adnoc affiliate) closed its acquisition of an additional equity interest in Rio Grande LNG Trains 4 and 5, giving XRG ownership across all five trains at the 30 MMtpa Brownsville project. And LNG Canada issued a limited notice to proceed to Fluor and JGC for the proposed Phase 2 expansion in Kitimat, British Columbia, allowing early project activities as the partners evaluate an FID that could double the export capacity.
Williams Advances Toward $5.5 Billion Momentum Midstream Deal as National Grid Ventures Commits $1.75 Billion to Joulent
Bloomberg reported on July 4 that Williams Companies is in advanced discussions to acquire Momentum Midstream in a transaction valued at approximately $5.5 billion. Williams operates one of the largest interstate natural gas pipeline systems in the country, including the Transco pipeline that connects Gulf Coast production to Northeast and Mid Atlantic demand centers. Momentum Midstream owns gas gathering and processing assets in the Haynesville Shale, one of the primary supply basins feeding Gulf Coast LNG. If completed, the deal materially extends Williams' upstream gathering and processing footprint into the exact gas supply corridor that the sanctioned Louisiana and Texas LNG buildout depends on.
Separately, National Grid Ventures announced a $1.75 billion investment on July 1 for a 35 percent stake in Joulent, a newly formed US power platform. Joulent's first project is the 2.67 GW Chevron Project Kilby behind the meter natural gas plant in Pecos, Reeves County, West Texas, that will supply the adjacent Microsoft AI data center campus under a 20 year power purchase agreement. Total capital commitment on the Kilby power project is now reported at approximately $9 billion. Chevron and National Grid Ventures target formal final investment decision on Kilby by late 2026 with free cash flow for Joulent expected in the early 2030s. The Kilby deal is the operating template for behind the meter gas fired generation dedicated to hyperscale AI compute, and National Grid Ventures' commitment is a strong signal that institutional capital is now underwriting this specific configuration at scale.
The two transactions bracket the full LNG and power value chain. Williams extends midstream gathering into Haynesville supply that feeds Gulf Coast LNG. National Grid Ventures anchors dedicated behind the meter gas fired power that feeds hyperscale AI compute. The same molecule, Permian and Haynesville natural gas, is now being contractually locked into both the largest LNG export buildout in modern history and the largest data center power buildout in modern history, simultaneously.
June Construction Employment Report, 11,000 Jobs Added, Craft Wages at $41.36 per Hour, Openings at a 10 Month High
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the June Employment Situation report on July 2, and the Associated General Contractors of America followed with sector level analysis on July 6. The US construction industry added 11,000 jobs in June and 64,000 jobs over the trailing 12 months, an increase of 0.8 percent. Total industry employment reached 8.331 million workers in June, up from 8.320 million in May. Nonresidential construction accounted for 19,900 of June's gross gains: nonresidential specialty trade contractors added 14,100 positions, nonresidential building added 3,200, and heavy and civil engineering added 2,600. Residential construction moved in the opposite direction, with residential building losing 2,900 jobs and residential specialty trade contractors losing 5,700 as elevated mortgage rates and affordability challenges cooled housing demand. Nonresidential construction employment is now running approximately 2.3 percent above June 2025 levels, several times faster than the total nonfarm economy at 0.3 percent.
Average hourly earnings for production and nonsupervisory construction workers reached $41.36 per hour in June, up 4.3 percent year over year, and roughly 10 percent above the all industries average of $37.64. Construction craft wages continue to escalate faster than the broader private sector. The industry unemployment rate rose to 4.7 percent in June, the highest June reading since 2021, which analysts characterized as a modestly constructive signal on labor supply availability, though hiring remained historically slow. The Associated Builders and Contractors reported earlier this month that construction job openings on the last day of May reached 298,000, a 10 month high, up 32,000 from April and 76,000 higher than the same month a year earlier. The construction hiring rate held at 3.5 percent, tied for the all time low.
The data tell a very specific story. Construction demand is expanding, especially in nonresidential and industrial categories. But hiring is not keeping pace. Job openings are climbing. Wages are climbing. And the industries that are still adding workers, primarily driven by data center, LNG, and manufacturing megaproject buildouts, are absorbing labor at a rate faster than the residential construction correction can free up. The AGC specifically flagged that continued construction employment gains may fade absent a new highway funding bill, though the industrial and data center segments are largely insulated from that risk. For contractors on the coast and on Texas industrial ground, the labor constraint is the binding constraint.
The Bottom Line
Every layer of the US industrial buildout moved simultaneously this week. Anthropic and TeraWulf executed the largest AI infrastructure lease ever announced at $19 billion for 20 years, 401 MW at Hawesville Kentucky, converting a shuttered aluminum smelter into a purpose built AI campus with a $3 to $4 billion TeraWulf capex. Argent LNG awarded engineering services to GIS on a proposed 25 MMtpa Port Fourchon export terminal, the largest single US LNG plan currently in permitting. Commonwealth LNG named Yokogawa MAC as Technip Energies EPC mobilizes on the $13.5 billion Cameron Parish buildout. Glenfarne issued LNTP to Kiewit for the 4 MTPA Texas LNG project at Brownsville. XRG closed acquisition of full equity across Rio Grande LNG Trains 4 and 5. LNG Canada issued Phase 2 LNTP to Fluor and JGC. Williams advanced toward a $5.5 billion acquisition of Momentum Midstream. National Grid Ventures put $1.75 billion into Joulent for 35 percent, anchoring the 2.67 GW Chevron Kilby power plant that supplies Microsoft's Pecos AI campus. And US construction added 11,000 jobs in June with craft wages at $41.36 per hour and industry employment at 8.331 million.
The 2026 industrial cycle is fully in execution phase. LNG capital is placing automation, EPC, and long lead procurement. Data center capital is signing decade plus leases with investment grade counterparties. Power capital is underwriting behind the meter generation dedicated to specific hyperscale loads. Midstream capital is buying gathering and processing capacity that connects supply to both LNG and power demand. And the craft labor pool that has to build all of it is expanding at 0.8 percent annually while nonresidential demand expands at 2.3 percent and craft wages climb at 4.3 percent. That gap between the demand curve and the labor supply curve is now the defining variable in every megaproject schedule on the coast. PSV Industries is a vertically integrated joint venture executing scope of work across structural steel fabrication, process modules, modular skid assembly, field installation, and shutdowns and turnarounds. American operating model, American shop capacity, American craft platform, delivered inside the exact Gulf Coast and Texas industrial geography where the work is landing. The work is here. The capital is here. The constraint is execution. PSV is built to deliver it.