BEIJING: Cheniere Energy expects to become the first company to export liquefied gas from U.S. shale fields in January 2015. Cheniere plans to start receiving natural gas to convert into super-chilled liquid fuel at its first U.S. LNG export terminal by the end of the year.
Chief Executive Officer Charif Souki told reporters outside of the Singapore International Energy Week conference, “We will ship our first cargo sometime in January.”
Once Cheniere’s first LNG plant starts up, the company will add a new production train every six months until mid-2019, leaving it with seven total lines of gas liquefaction at its Sabine Pass project in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, and at another terminal in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The seven trains will account for almost half of the 65 million metric tons annually of LNG export capacity under construction in the United States.
Cheniere has sold most of its 31.5 million metric tons of LNG via long-term contracts, with about 4 million metric tons remaining for sale in spot markets, Souki said.
