US LNG exporting giant Cheniere, the owner of the Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi terminals, set a quarterly production record in the first quarter of this year and also raised its 2023 guidance.
Cheniere exported record 167 LNG cargoes during the quarter, a rise of 7 cargoes when compared to the same period last year, according to its earnings report issued on Tuesday.
The majority of these cargoes landed in Europe. Cheniere did not provide the exact percentage, but it previously said that about 70 percent of the volumes it produced at its liquefaction plants landed in Europe last year.
The produced volumes in the first quarter reached 603 TBtu, up 3 percent when compared to the least year, while LNG loaded volumes rose 3 percent to 602 TBtu.
Cheniere reported a net income of $5.43 billion in the first quarter compared to a net loss last year, while the company’s revenue dropped to $7.31 billion.
The company attributed the rise due to changes in fair value of its derivative portfolio of about $4.7 billion, as well as increased total margins per MMBtu of LNG delivered.
Cheniere announced a net loss of $865 million and a revenue of $7.48 billion in the first quarter of last year.
The company’s revenue surged to $33.4 billion in 2022 due to a strong LNG market and high demand in Europe.
Raising guidance due to “strong” quarter
The company’s consolidated adjusted Ebitda rose 12 percent to $3.6 billion in the first quarter, and distributable cash flow reached about $2.9 billion.
Cheniere is raising 2023 consolidated adjusted Ebitda guidance to $8.2 – $8.7 billion and 2023 distributable cash flow guidance to $5.7 – $6.2 billion.
The company’s CEO Jack Fusco said Cheniere is raising the guidance on the back of a “strong” quarter.
“We set a new quarterly LNG production record in the first quarter, which is a testament to our steadfast commitment to safe and reliable operations across the Cheniere platform,” he said.
He added that early construction activities at Corpus Christi Stage 3 are “progressing ahead of schedule”.
The project reached 28.7 percent completion as of the end of March this year.
Expansion projects
The Corpus Christi liquefaction plant now consists of three operational trains with each having a capacity of about 5 mtpa.
Under the expansion, Cheniere will add up to seven midscale trains, each with an expected liquefaction capacity of about 1.49 mtpa.
Cheniere also plans to build two more midscale trains at Corpus Christi.
As per the Sabine Pass plant, the facility recently shipped the 2000th cargo of LNG since its launch in 2016.
Sabine Pass currently has a capacity of about 30 mtpa following the launch of the sixth train in February last year.
In February this year, Cheniere initiated the pre-filing review process with the US FERC for the proposed Sabine Pass Stage 5 expansion project with a capacity of some 20 mtpa.