LNG player Cheniere said it has made a positive final investment decision with respect to Train 5 of the Sabine Pass liquefaction project in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, and has issued a notice to proceed with construction to Bechtel.
The Sabine Pass liquefaction project is being designed for up to six liquefaction trains, each with nominal production capacity of approximately 4.5 million tonnes per annum. Train 5 is expected to commence operations as early as 2018, the company informed in a statement.
“We now have five liquefaction trains under construction at Sabine Pass, with Train 1 expected to make first LNG later this year. We expect to reach FID on Train 6 at Sabine Pass upon completion of commercial contracts and arranging financing, as all necessary regulatory approvals have been received,” said Charif Souki, Chairman and CEO of Cheniere .
In order to fund Train 5 construction, Cheniere’s Sabine Pass Liquefaction unit has entered into four credit facilities, which replace its existing credit facilities, for an aggregate amount of approximately $4.6 billion. These credit facilities complete the financing needed to fund the costs of developing, constructing and placing into service the first five liquefaction trains of the Sabine Pass liquefaction project.
Additionally, Sabine Pass Liquefaction has commitments for a $1.2 billion revolving credit facility which is expected to close in due course. Société Générale acted as financial advisor.
The Sabine Pass LNG terminal includes existing infrastructure of five LNG storage tanks with capacity of approximately 16.9 billion cubic feet equivalent, two docks that can accommodate vessels with nominal capacity of up to 266,000 cubic meters and vaporizers with regasification capacity of approximately 4.0 Bcf/d.
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Image: Cheniere