Cheniere Says Sabine T2 on Schedule
Cheniere Energy said August 9 that the commissioning process of its Train 2 at Sabine Pass in Louisiana has begun and that, based on the current construction schedule, it “expects substantial completion of Train 2 to be achieved in late September 2016.”
“Commissioning activities at Train 2 continue with first LNG achieved in late July, and our remaining trains under construction continue on time and on budget," said Jack Fusco, Cheniere's President and CEO. Its statement did not say when the first commissioning cargo would be shipped from the train, though in May it predicted this would happen in mid-August.
Sabine Pass LNG export facility in Louisiana (Photo credit: Cheniere)
Sabine Pass Trains 3 and 4 are 87.4% complete and expected to be completed in 2017, the company’s August 9 statement added. Train 5 is expected by Cheniere to reach substantial completion in 2019, and says a final investment is pending on a sixth train. Each of the six trains has roughly 4.5mn metric tons/yr capacity.
Cheniere commenced commercial sales of LNG from Train 1 in May 2016, and Fusco said it exported five cargoes of LNG under its contract with BG (now Shell) as at end-June.
Sabine Pass train 1 however exported its first commissioning cargo in February. The first cargoes into Europe reached Portugal and northwest Spain respectively in April and June. Another landmark delivery was the shipment of a cargo lifted by Shell from Sabine Pass last month, aboard Maran Gas Apollonia, the first LNG tanker to pass through the enlarged Panama Canal.
Cheniere Energy on August 9 reported a $298.4mn net loss for 2Q 2016, compared with a net loss of $118.5mn in the same 2015 quarter. Corresponding 1H losses were $619.3mn and $386.2mn.
The company added that trains 1 and 2 of its Corpus Christi LNG project in Texas were 36.6% completed, which it said was ahead of the contractual schedule (completion due 2019) but that its planned train 3 has so far sold only 0.8mn mt/yr. Five trains are planned there, including the two now being built, all of the same size as those at Sabine Pass.
Mark Smedley