Cheniere Energy Inc.’s 5-million tonne/year (tpy) Sabine Pass LNG Train 6 is 83% complete, with work expected to continue until first-half 2022. Engineering is 99.6% complete, procurement 99.9%, and construction 61.7%, according to the company’s first-quarter 2021 earnings report. The additional train will bring Sabine Pass’s total capacity to 30 million tpy.
The company’s 10-million tpy Corpus Christi Stage 3 expansion, meanwhile, awaits an engineering, procurement, and construction contract, additional commercial agreements, and adequate financing before construction can begin. Corpus Christi LNG’s current capacity is 15 million tpy. The Stage 3 expansion would add as many as seven midscale liquefaction trains to the three 5-million tpy trains already in operation. Train 3 of the plant’s current configuration entered commercial service earlier this year (OGJ Online, Mar. 29, 2021).
Cheniere’s first-quarter net income increased 5% from first-quarter 2020, reaching $393 million as increased total margins excluding non-cash impacts from derivatives, decreased income tax provision, and decreased net income attributable to non-controlling interest were substantially offset by a $450-million decrease in non-cash net gains from changes in fair value of commodity, foreign exchange, and interest rate derivatives.
Increases in total margins excluding non-cash impacts from derivatives were primarily related to increased margins per MMbtu of LNG delivered to customers, as well as a higher-than-normal contribution from LNG and natural gas portfolio optimization activities due to significant volatility in LNG and natural gas markets during first-quarter 2021, partially offset by a slight decrease in LNG volumes recognized in income.
