Cheniere results note LNG progress

Cheniere Energy has reported a third quarter loss of US$ 89.6 million, compared to a net loss of US$ 100.8 million for the comparable period in 2013.

The results include significant items related to development expenses for the liquefaction facilities being developed at Corpus Christi, Texas, as well as losses on early extinguishment of debt by Sabine Pass Liquefaction, in connection with the refinancing of part of its credit facilities in May 2014 and April 2013.

Highlights

• In August 2014, Cheniere Marketing entered into an amended LNG SPA with Sabine Pass Liquefaction to purchase any LNG produced by Sabine Pass in excess of that required for other customers.
• In August 2014, Cheniere Marketing entered into SPAs with Corpus Christi Liquefaction, under which Cheniere has the option to purchase any LNG produced by Corpus Christi in excess of that required for other customers.

Sabine Pass LNG

Cheniere is developing up to six natural gas liquefaction trains, each with a capacity of approximately 4.5 million tpa, at the Sabine Pass LNG terminal.

The trains are in various stages of development:

• Construction on Trains 1 and 2 began in August 2012, and as of 30 September, the overall project for Trains 1 and 2 was approximately 76% complete, ahead of schedule. Based on Cheniere’s current construction schedule, the company anticipates that Train 1 will produce LNG as early as late 2015.
• Construction on Trains 3 and 4 began in May 2013, and as of 30 September, the overall project for Trains 3 and 4 was approximately 43% complete, also ahead of schedule. Trains 3 and 4 should become operational in late 2016 and 2017, respectively.
• Trains 5 and 6 are under development. Cheniere has entered into SPAs for approximately 3.75 million tpa, to commence with the date of first commercial delivery for Train 5.
• Cheniere has received authorisations from the US Department of Energy to export 503 billion ft³/year of LNG volumes from Trains 5 and 6 to free trade agreement (FTA) countries. Authorisation to export LNG to non­FTA countries is pending. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authorisation is also pending.

Corpus Christi LNG

Cheniere continues to make progress on the commercialisation and development of the Corpus Christi Liquefaction Project, which is being designed for up to three Trains capacity of approximately 13.5 million tpa of LNG.

To date, the company has entered into SPAs aggregating approximately 6.9 million tpa of LNG volumes commencing with Trains 1 and 2 and 0.77 million tpa of LNG volumes commencing with Train 3.

Cheniere has received authorisation from the DOE to export up to 767 billion ft³/year of domestically produced LNG to FTA countries. Authorisation to export LNG to non­FTA countries is pending. In October 2014, the FERC issued the Final Environmental Impact Statement, which is pending final approval. The company expects to receive remaining regulatory approvals by early 2015.

Adapted from press release by Katie Woodward

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquefaction/31102014/cheniere-updates-on-liquefaction-projects-1709/