The drop in oil prices has not affected Houston-based LNG player Cheniere as the company expects to take a final investment decision on its planned Corpus Christi LNG project within the next 30 days.
According to the vice-president of origination at Cheniere International, Ramzi Mroueh , the company has agreed the financing for the project and firmed up an engineering, procurement and construction contract with Bechtel valued at $9.5 billion, Reuters reports.
Mroueh added that the project is expected to sell further two million tons of LNG capacity by the end of the year.
He added that low oil prices have failed to cut the market interest for Cheniere’s LNG. The company will have a combined production capacity of 40 million tons annually when both projects, the Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi become fully operational.
The company received approval from the US federal Energy Regulatory Commission to expand the Sabine Pass LNG terminal by constructing liquefaction trains 5 and 6.
In regards to the possibility of Asian buyers not using their export capacity, as oil-indexed spot cargoes could be a cheaper option at times, buyers will incur a $10 million fee per cargo, and Mroueh added that there will be times when that fee will not be recovered, but it will certainly be recovered over a 20 year period.
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LNG World News Staff; Image: Cheniere