By the end of next year, Venture Global (VG) aims to become the world’s top LNG exporter by volume—ahead of rival Cheniere Energy and even above QatarEnergy. That’s even if Qatar’s damages are fully repaired from the ongoing Iran war.

And, now, VG plans to turn excess land and gas-fired power at its campuses into major hyperscaler data center hubs with 5 gigawatts of power available by 2031—enough to power nearly 4 million homes—and doubling to 10 gigawatts of capacity by 2034, Sabel said.

“We believe we have built the largest electric industrial grid in the world, and it’s on an island,” Sabel told Fortune. “We can just expand what we already have, and we can build data center infrastructure and provide exactly what the market needs, which is total island mode. We’re off the water utility, and we’re off the grid, so we don’t impact consumers at all.”

Venture Global, which made its debut this year at No. 328 on the Fortune 500, is expanding its contracts with GE Vernova and Baker Huges to provide the necessary gas-fired turbines and transformer equipment. “We’ve engineered and designed the grid, commissioned the grid, operated the grid, and now we can expand it,” Sabel said.

VG operates two massive LNG export hubs—Calcasieu Pass LNG in southwestern Louisiana and Plaquemines LNG in southeastern Louisiana. CP2 is adjacent to Calcasieu Pass. Sabel said each of the two campuses can serve as a “turnkey AI utility.”

“We have a huge footprint. It’s a potential mega scale of infrastructure that we hope the customers will find attractive,” Sabel said. “That’s when we’re in the market testing to see. I think they will. We own incredibly scarce equipment now, expanding our frame agreement with GE. This is very unique.”

While some states are now facing potential data center pauses after the midterm elections, including neighboring Texas, Louisiana has data center-friendly leadership that stayed in Republican hands. And VG is offering its services behind the meter and off the grid. SpaceX already is planning to build its new Starbase campus about 70 miles from Calcasieu Pass.

Different approach

Venture Global built out its business at an unprecedented pace by designing smaller facilities that are easier to replicate at scale, and by signing on customers at cheaper, long-term contracts than its rivals. By building more quickly and bringing on each facility one at a time—each gas liquefaction train—VG has brought in higher profits on spot markets before the entire facility is completed and the new contracts kick in.

For instance, Plaquemines LNG has shipped cargoes throughout the Iran war—helping make up for the loss of Qatar’s supplies—but the commercial contracts just started at the end of October once phase one was fully completed and commissioned. Customers have sometimes criticized the approach, arguing the contracts could have started sooner and battling it out in court.

At the same time, VG contends it has done more to help supply Europe and Asia with gas during the war than other companies by bringing Plaquemines LNG on early.

As VG completes additional phases of growth at each of its campuses, the company plans to exceed 100 million metric tons of LNG export capacity per year by 2030. For comparison, at the beginning of 2025, the entire U.S. had about 100 million tons of LNG capacity.

Venture Global reported its third-quarter earnings Tuesday. VG posted $2.55 billion in quarterly net income, up from $429 million in the same quarter last year. VG’s stock had already risen 73% this year prior to earnings.