Cheniere Energy Partners’ subsidiaries have started the pre-filing review process for the proposed Sabine Pass Stage 5 Expansion Project (SPL).
This review process comes under the US National Environmental Policy Act and will be conducted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
The proposed site is adjacent to the existing Sabine Pass liquefaction project and is being designed for a total LNG production capacity of around 20 mill tonnes per annum.
It could include up to three large-scale liquefaction trains, each with a production capacity of about 6.5 mill tonnes per annum, a boil-off-gas (BOG) re-liquefaction unit with a production capacity of around 0.75 mill tonnes and two 220,000 cu m LNG storage tanks.
Also included will be facilities for waste heat recovery, as well as carbon capture from acid gas removal units.
This expansion project is expected to benefit from the significant existing infrastructure at Sabine Pass with various enhancements to its current capabilities, including optimised ship loading at the existing marine facilities, Cheniere said.
FEED study
The company has contracted Bechtel Energy to complete a Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) project study.
“As the first and largest LNG export facility in the Lower 48, Sabine Pass has pioneered an industry critical to supplying reliable, flexible, and cleaner burning natural gas to markets and customers around the world, and we look forward to significantly growing those capabilities through the SPL expansion project,” explained Jack Fusco, Chairman, President and CEO of Cheniere Partners.
“The SPL expansion project is being designed to leverage the infrastructure platform we’ve built at Sabine Pass to deliver economically advantaged incremental LNG capacity in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. We are committed to developing the SPL expansion project utilising the same rigorous and financially disciplined approach to project development and capital investment that’s become synonymous with the Cheniere brand,” he said.
This development is subject to the receipt of all the required regulatory approvals and permits, and sufficient commercial and financing arrangements before a final investment decision (FID) can be reached.
Cheniere also reported that during the three and 12 months ended 31st December, 2022, it generated revenues of around $9.1 bill and $33.4 bill, respectively.
In addition, the group reported net income of about $3.9 bill and $1.4 bill, respectively, consolidated adjusted EBITDA of around $3.1 bill and $11.6 bill, respectively, and distributable cash flow of about $2.3 bill and $8.7 bill, respectively.
For this year, Cheniere offered consolidated adjusted EBITDA guidance of $8 - $8.5 bill and full year 2023 distributable cash flow of $5.5 - $6 bill.
Last year, Cheniere’s subsidiaries signed new long-term contracts totalling over 180 mill tonnes of LNG through 2050 with creditworthy counterparties in the form of free-on-board (FOB) and delivered ex-ship (DES) LNG sale and purchase agreements (SPAs), as well as integrated production marketing (IPM) gas supply agreements.
