Cheniere Energy sees Q1 profit growth
US LNG exporter Cheniere Energy reported May 4 that net income during the first quarter was $393mn, a modest improvement over net income of $375mn in Q1 2020 and reversing a $194mn loss it took in the fourth quarter last year.
Consolidated adjusted Ebitda increased to $1.49bn from $1.04bn, largely reflecting increased margins on LNG. During Q1 2021, Cheniere exported 133 cargoes from its terminals in Louisiana and Texas, representing 480 trillion Btu of LNG; a year ago, quarterly cargoes were 128, representing 453 trillion Btu. Since making its first LNG exports in 2016, Cheniere has produced and delivered about 105mn mt of LNG in more than 1,525 cumulative cargoes.
|
Advertisement: The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) NGC’s HSSE strategy is reflective and supportive of the organisational vision to become a leader in the global energy business. |
“Continued strength in global LNG market fundamentals, together with the strong first quarter results we reported today, improves our outlook for the balance of the year and enables us to increase our full year 2021 financial guidance for the second consecutive quarter,” CEO Jack Fusco said. Consolidated adjusted Ebitda guidance for the full year has been increased to $4.3-$4.6bn from previous guidance of $4.1-$4.4bn.
The company on March 29 took full custody of Train 3 at its liquefaction facility in Corpus Christi, Texas. A 10mn mt/yr expansion at Corpus Christi, consisting of seven mid-scale trains, is fully permitted but awaiting an engineering, procurement and construction contract, additional commercial agreements and the conclusion of adequate financing arrangements.
Separately, Cheniere said that it delivered the first carbon-neutral cargo of LNG from Sabine Pass to Europe in April for Anglo-Dutch major Shell.
“Cheniere and Shell worked together to offset the full lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions associated with the LNG cargo by retiring nature-based offsets to account for the estimated CO2e emissions produced through the entire value chain, from production through use by the final consumer,” the company said.
Offsets were acquired from Shell's global portfolio of nature-based projects, with Cheniere purchasing the portion attributable to estimated CO2e emissions associated with activities upstream of the FOB delivery point, including production and liquefaction.