BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 22. QatarEnergy has
signed two long-term sale and purchase agreements (SPAs) with
US-based Cheniere Energy for the purchase of up to 4 million tons
of liquefied natural gas (LNG) annually from the United States,
QatarEnergy said on October 22.
Under the agreements, LNG will be sourced from Cheniere’s Sabine
Pass facility in Louisiana and Corpus Christi facility in Texas,
both located along the US Gulf Coast. Deliveries are scheduled to
begin in 2031 and continue through 2054. The agreements provide for
deliveries on a free-on-board (FOB) basis, under which the buyer
assumes responsibility for the cargo once it is loaded onto the
vessel at the export terminal.
The SPAs were signed by Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy
Affairs and QatarEnergy President and CEO Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi,
and Cheniere Energy Chairman, President and CEO Jack Fusco.
Commenting on the agreements, Al-Kaabi said they marked “an
important milestone in our LNG strategy.”
“This major long-term purchase will expand and diversify our
global LNG portfolio and advance our ability to meet the evolving
requirements of the market,” he said.
He added that the additional volumes would complement
QatarEnergy’s existing LNG supplies, strengthen its supply and
trading portfolio, and enhance its ability to serve customers
worldwide.
The agreements underscore QatarEnergy’s strategy of diversifying
its LNG procurement sources and maintaining a flexible supply
portfolio amid evolving global energy demand. For Cheniere, the
deals provide a long-term sales framework for LNG produced at its
US export facilities, reinforcing the role of American LNG in
international gas markets.
Sabine Pass currently has six fully operational liquefaction
units — or “trains” — each capable of producing ~5 mtpa of LNG.
These six trains have been brought online ahead of schedule, and
all within budget. With all six trains complete, the aggregate
nominal production capacity of SPL (Sabine Pass Liquefaction) is
approximately 30 mtpa of LNG. Through access to an extensive
pipeline network, Sabine Pass has the ability to access natural gas
from every supply source in the continental United States east of
the Rocky Mountains and works with dozens of natural gas producers
and infrastructure companies to purchase natural gas supply and
reliably transport the supply to the terminal.
Cheniere’s Corpus Christi Liquefaction facility (CCL) is located
on the La Quinta Ship Channel, along the north shore of Corpus
Christi Bay in San Patricio County, Texas. CCL has 10 fully
operational liquefaction units — or “trains.” The facility’s three
containment tanks each have the capacity to store 160,000 cubic
meters of LNG — and each is large enough to fit a 747 airliner. The
facility’s two berths have the capacity to receive the world’s
largest LNG carrier, the Q-Max, which is 344.4 meters long with a
cargo capacity of 266,000 cubic meters of LNG.
