US LNG exporting giant Cheniere reported a 42 percent drop in its quarterly revenue due to lower prices, while its net profit decreased 91 percent. The company’s Corpus Christi Stage 3 project is 55.9 percent complete.
The owner of the Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi LNG export terminals said on Friday its revenue reached $4.25 billion in the first quarter.
This compares to $5.43 billion in the first quarter last year.
Net income was at $502 million and compares to $5.43 billion in the year before.
Cheniere said the the “unfavorable change was primarily due to an approximate $5 billion unfavorable change in the fair value of our derivative instruments, from a $4.7 billion gain in the prior period to a $0.3 billion loss for the three months ended March 31, 2024.”
Consolidated adjusted Ebitda decreased 51 percent to $1.77 billion “primarily due to moderating international gas prices and the higher proportion of our LNG being sold under long-term contracts, resulting in lower total margins per MMBtu of LNG delivered compared to the prior period,” the firm said.
The company confirmed full year 2024 consolidated adjusted Ebitda guidance of $5.5 billion – $6 billion and full year 2024 distributable cash flow guidance of $2.9 billion – $3.4 billion.
166 LNG cargoes
Cheniere exported 166 LNG cargoes during the first quarter, down by just one cargo compared to the same period last year.
Most of these volumes landed in Europe, followed by Asia.
The company’s loaded LNG volumes reached 602 trillion British thermal unit (TBtu), compared to 603 TBtu in the same period last year.
First LNG production from Corpus Christi expansion project
Cheniere is the largest LNG exporter in the US.
The company’s Sabine Pass facility in Louisiana currently has a capacity of about 30 mtpa following the launch of the sixth train in February 2022, while Cheniere’s three-train Corpus Christi plant in Texas can produce about 15 mtpa of LNG and is undergoing expansion to add more than 10 mtpa of capacity.
Cheniere’s unit Corpus Christi Liquefaction said in the January construction report filed with the US FERC that overall project completion for the Stage 3 project is 52.7 percent.
The company said in the results report that the project was 55.9 percent complete as of March 31, 2024.
Cheniere expects to achieve first LNG production from the first train at the end of 2024.
Substantial completion of the project is expected during 1H 2025 – 2H 2026.
Besides this expansion, Cheniere plans to build two more liquefaction trains as part of the third expansion phase at the Corpus Christi plant.
In addition, Cheniere also aims to build two new liquefaction trains as part of the Sabine Pass Stage 5 expansion project to add up to 20 mtpa of capacity to the giant facility.
In February 2024, units of Cheniere Partners submitted an application to the FERC for authorization to site, construct and operate the SPL expansion project, as well as an application to the DOE requesting authorization to export LNG to FTA and non-FTA countries, both of which applications exclude debottlenecking, it said.