By Ben Lefebvre
HOUSTON--Cheniere Energy Inc. (LNG) has filed applications with
the federal government to add an additional 9 million metric tons
of annual gas export capacity at the liquefied natural gas export
terminal it is building in Sabine Pass, La., according to filings
with federal regulators and an Energy Department spokesman.
The request filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
and the U.S. Department of Energy are the first concrete regulatory
steps Cheniere has taken to add a fifth and sixth processing unit,
or trains, which Cheniere had already announced it was
pursuing.
Cheniere in December agreed to supply Total S.A. (TOT) with two
million metric tons a year of LNG for 20 years from the fifth train
pending regulatory approval and financing. Cheniere's latest FERC
application is an initial filing that could take at least six
months to process before proceeding to a more formal petition with
the federal agency, said a person familiar with the matter.
Cheniere is the first--and currently only-- company to hold
permits to export LNG out of the lower U.S. Cheniere and its
competitors hope to sell U.S. natural gas abroad as hydraulic
fracturing and other drilling innovations have led to a massive
increase in natural gas supply and a glut in the domestic gas
market.
Cheniere in 2011 received permits to export to countries not
holding a free trade agreement with the U.S., a lucrative market
that includes such large LNG buyers as Japan. The Department of
Energy has since had a moratorium on approving LNG export permits
as it studies how exports would affect natural gas prices.
Cheniere also has filed two applications for the fifth and sixth
trains with the Department of Energy, one for countries holding a
free trade agreement with the U.S. and one for non-FTA countries, a
Department of Energy representative said.
The Houston-based business plans to ship 7.7 million metric tons
a year from two trains at its the Sabine Pass terminal by 2016, and
is expecting permission to ship another 8.3 million metric tons a
year from a third and fourth train by 2017.
Write to Ben Lefebvre at Ben.Lefebvre@dowjones.com
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