Turnarounds at all of its trains at Sabine Parish are partly to blame for a third-quarter net loss for Cheniere Energy, the companies CEO said last week on a conference call with analysts.
CEO Jack Fusco said the company has been weighed down financially by additional maintenance costs at a time when pricing for LNG sold by its marketing affiliate has declined, S&P Global Platts reports. Cheniere operates five trains at Sabine Pass and is building a sixth.
For the three months ended September 30, Cheniere reported a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $318 million, or $1.25 a share, compared with a profit of $65 million, or 26 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier.
Cheniere expects 2020 to be largely clear in terms of major maintenance and no new trains are scheduled to come online next year. The company is also pursuing additional commercial deals with Permian natural gas producers amid its expectation that it will make a positive final investment decision during the first half of next year on a proposed midscale liquefaction expansion in Texas, S&P Global Platts reports.
Uncertainty about the size of the global LNG supply stack in the mid-2020s remains, as several projects have disclosed potential delays in startup, including the Shell- and Energy Transfer-backed Lake Charles LNG in Louisiana. Other developers have struggled on the permitting and commercial fronts.
