CNG/LNG

Cheniere Energy operates the only liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility in the United States (currently), in Sabine Pass, Louisiana. There are others planned, like the Cove Point, Maryland facility currently under construction. We keep tabs on Cheniere, even though it’s located in Louisiana, because some of the pipelines that serve it have Marcellus/Utica natural gas flowing through them. It’s potentially a very important market for our natural gas. It’s not cheap to build and operate these massive petrochemical plants. In September Cheniere floated IOUs (i.e. bonds) to raise $1.5 billion for the Sabine Pass operation (see Cheniere Energy Upsizes IOU Offering from $1B to $1.5B). What you may not know is that Cheniere is also in the midst of building a second LNG export facility–in Corpus Christi, TX. Although we don’t know for sure, we expect that facility will, one day, also use at least some Marcellus/Utica gas to chill and export abroad. Cheniere must have had good success with raising $1.5 billion for Sabine Pass because they’ve turned around and are now doing it all over again–raising $1.5 billion by floating new notes–for the Corpus Christi project…
Read More “Cheniere Repeats $1.5B “Note” Strategy with Second LNG Subsidiary”

In May MDN reported that the odious corporate raider, Carl Ichan, had installed a new CEO at Cheniere Energy, after he had ousted co-founder and former CEO Charif Souki (see Carl Icahn Installs New Puppet as CEO of Cheniere Energy). It didn’t take long (July) for new CEO Jack Fusco to start lining his pockets with $1.5 million of Cheniere stock (see Carl Icahn’s Cheniere CEO Buys 37,604 Shares of Stock). He’s doing it again. Fusco has just purchased another $1.5 million worth of company stock…
Read More “Carl Icahn’s Cheniere CEO Lines Pockets with Another $1.5M Stock”

As we pointed out last week, the Canadian Goldboro LNG export plant continues to see activity, with an expected commitment coming in the next couple of months (see Pieridae Energy to Make FID on Goldboro LNG Project Next 2 Mos). We have yet another sign that the project is heading toward a final investment (FID) decision of “yes.” Our latest evidence? Pieridae Energy, the company building the project, has just signed a tentative labor agreement with unions in the region to provide the labor needed to build the plant…
Read More “Pieridae Energy Signs Labor Contract to Build Goldboro LNG”

We’ve kept an eye on several LNG export projects along the Eastern shore of Canada (most of them in Nova Scotia) for some time. Why? Because they’re a huge potential market for Marcellus and Utica Shale gas. One of those projects, in Nova Scotia, is the Goldboro LNG project from Pieridae Energy. In February, the U.S. Dept. of Energy approved the plant for exporting to non-free trade agreement counties, back in February (see Goldboro LNG Project Gets Final DOE Approval – Good for Marcellus). In August, Honeywell has announced it was selected to provide the Goldboro project with automation and safety systems and serve as the integrated main automation contractor (see Signs of Life in Canadian Goldboro LNG Export Project). Pieridae officials went on the record this week saying they are still on track to make a final investment decision (FID) by the end of this year, which is just over two months away. We take that to be a very good sign…
Read More “Pieridae Energy to Make FID on Goldboro LNG Project Next 2 Mos”

You may recall that evil corporate raider Carl Ichan fired the CEO of Cheniere Energy, Charif Souki, in December 2015 (see Evil Corporate Raider Carl Icahn Claims Another CEO Scalp). Souki founded the company but he was unceremoniously dumped. Same thing Icahn did to Aubrey McClendon at Chesapeake Energy. Cheniere is the first company to begin exporting LNG (liquefied natural gas) from the U.S. to other countries. Some of the gas they ship either already comes, or soon will, from the Marcellus. One of the drillers under contract with Cheniere is Antero Resources. Anyhow, just like McClendon, Souki started up a new company to compete with his former company (see Revenge: Fired Cheniere CEO Starts Competing LNG Company). That new company, Tellurian Investments, established a subsidiary called Driftwood LNG. Driftwood has begun the pre-filing process with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build an LNG export facility in Louisiana to compete with Cheniere (see Fired Cheniere Energy CEO Charif Souki’s Revenge: Driftwood LNG). As we reported earlier this month, Souki hired away one of Cheniere’s top executives, Meg Gentle, to become president and CEO of Tellurian (see Souki’s Revenge Continues – Tellurian Lures Cheniere Exec as CEO). Now comes yet another high level defection from Cheniere to Tellurian. Keith Teague is the newly minted executive vice president and COO of Tellurian and Driftwood…
Read More “Souki’s Revenge Against Cheniere Continues, Snags 2nd Exec”

Cheniere Energy operates the only liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility in the United States–currently. There are others planned, like the Cove Point, Maryland facility currently under construction. We keep tabs on Cheniere, even though it’s located in Louisiana, because the pipelines that serve it either are or soon will have Marcellus/Utica natural gas flowing through them–to the Cheniere plant. It’s potentially a very important market for our natural gas. We’ve had plenty of Cheniere news lately. Earlier this week we told you about a major restructuring at the top of the company, and the news that Train 2 at the plant is about ready to rock and roll (see Cheniere Restructures Management Team, Finishes Train 2). We have more news. The company had planned to float a big $1 billion of new “notes”–what we call IOUs. The news is that Cheniere is feeling frisky and has upsized the note offering. They’re now floating $1.5 billion of new senior notes…
Read More “Cheniere Energy Upsizes IOU Offering from $1B to $1.5B”

After firing Cheniere Energy’s CEO and co-founder last December, Charif Souki, corporate raider Carl Icahn then installed his own puppet to run the LNG exporting company (see Carl Icahn Installs New Puppet as CEO of Cheniere Energy). The man Carl hired is Jack Fusco. Apparently Jack is confident in himself and in the future of Cheniere, because snapped up $1.5 million worth of Cheniere’s stock not long after he assumed the role of CEO (see Carl Icahn’s Cheniere CEO Buys 37,604 Shares of Stock). We have a pair of updates for Cheniere: first, we have some musical chairs and new appointments in the senior management ranks of Cheniere. Jack (i.e. Carl Icahn) is making changes. Second, the company announced that Train 2 at the Sabine Pass Liquefaction Project is now substantially complete and they’ve taken it over from the builder, Bechtel. Why go on about an LNG export plant in southern Louisiana?…
Read More “Cheniere Restructures Management Team, Finishes Train 2”