The year 2016 hasn’t been an outstanding one for many in the oil and gas industry, but for Cheniere Energy Inc., this year has been a success. The company’s Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Corpus Christi, Texas, began full operations in the second quarter in what was not just a milestone for Cheniere, but for the U.S. LNG industry.
“It’s truly an exciting time at Cheniere. We are firing on all cylinders, and we are beginning to see the impact our company is having on the global energy marketplace,” Jack Fusco, president and CEO, said during a second-quarter earnings call.
The start-up of the terminal’s train 1 began to provide Cheniere with revenue from liquefaction with income from LNG sales totaling $111 million in the quarter and $113 million year-to-date from a total of 22 cargoes shipped from the facility to South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. These figures are expected to greatly increase in the coming years as more capacity is brought online at Sabine Pass and the company completes other terminal projects.
“We are transitioning from a development company to an operating one. These near-term operational, financial, commercial and organizational goals will help us manage that transition, and help take Cheniere to the next level,” he said.
According to Fusco, Cheniere will not only maintain but increase its share of the U.S. LNG market due to its ability to deliver projects on time and on schedule. “We have the proven track record across all elements of project execution and finance. We are also unique in offering our customers a comprehensive service option, from natural gas procurement, transport, processing, storage and shipping,” he said.
Though commodity prices have fallen around the world, Anatol Feygin, Cheniere’s senior vice president of strategy and corporate development, said that the global LNG market is improving with imports to China and India increasing by 30% in the first half of 2016 compared to 2015. There are also 30 new markets considering LNG import projects, with many new floating regasification units being part of the mix.
“While the market for LNG is loose at the moment, we expect it to begin tightening between late this and early next decade, and for LNG demand to double between now and 2030. Production declines in legacy markets, markets switching to cleaner-burning natural gas, contract roll offs and the emergence of new LNG markets, primarily enabled by floating regas facilities, will continue to offer us attractive opportunities,” Feygin said.
Cheniere officials anticipate the number of countries increasing their use of natural gas to continue to grow in order to conform to the United Nations’ climate change accords signed in Paris last year.
As this demand grows in the coming years, Feygin said that there is a potential supply gap caused by the current industry downturn that has seen a slowdown in FID for new LNG projects. Since Cheniere is ahead of many other North American LNG companies, it stands to benefit from any such supply gap.
Frank Nieto can be reached at fnieto@hartenergy.com.
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