US LNG Projects Risk Delays, Cost Overruns From Contractor Woes

US natural gas-export projects are at risk for extended construction delays and cost overruns amid stiff competition for a limited pool of welders, pipefitters and other skilled workers.

The financial strain on specialist engineering firms that construct the mammoth factories that turn gas into a liquid so it can be shipped abroad on tanker ships has already driven Zachry Holdings Inc. to seek US bankruptcy protection. The company cut thousands of jobs last week at a Texas LNG development it’s building for Exxon Mobil Corp. and QatarEnergy.

That facility — known as Golden Pass LNG — was already a year ...