Houston-based Cheniere Energy said today its Sabine Pass Liquefaction subsidiary agreed to sell liquefied natural gas equivalent to about 91.25 billion cubic feet a year to Total Gas and Power North America. It said today it will also sell another 13.5 bcf equivalent on a seasonal basis from the Gulf Coast facility being built. Those volumes are equal to about 2 million metric tonnes of LNG a year. (A tonne, or 1,000 kilograms, is about 2,200 pounds, or 1.1 tons U.S.). Each of five planned "trains," or LNG processing lines, is expected to have a capacity of 4.5 million tonnes a year. Two trains are under construction, Cheniere said, and two more will begin construction in 2013. The deal runs for 20 years once Cheniere brings the fifth train online, and can be extended another 10 years, the company said. "Deliveries from train five are expected to occur as early as 2018," Cheniere said. Total, a French energy firm, has invested in U.S. shale gas assets, including $2.25 billion nearly two years ago for a 25 percent stake in Chesapeake Energy's Barnett Shale production.
The company's news release is here.
-- Jim Fuquay
