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Nov 24 (Reuters) - U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) company
Cheniere Energy Inc said Wednesday its marketing arm
agreed to sell LNG to a unit of Chinese natural gas distribution
company Foran Energy Group Co Ltd for 20 years
starting in January 2023.
Analysts said the deal should move Cheniere closer to making
a final investment decision (FID) to build the proposed Stage 3
expansion at its Corpus Christi plant in Texas, which is
expected in 2022.
The deal is one of several announced in recent weeks as LNG
buyers seek to lock in long-term prices and supplies of the
super-cooled fuel as global energy shortages have boosted prices
to record highs.
Utilities around the world are competing for LNG cargoes to
fill extremely low gas stockpiles in Europe ahead of the winter
heating season and meet insatiable demand for the fuel in Asia
where coal and gas shortages have caused power blackouts in
China.
Over the past couple of months, Cheniere has signed
agreements to sell LNG to units of French energy company Engie
SA, Anglo-Swiss mining and commodities trading firm
Glencore PLC, Chinese gas distribution company ENN
Natural Gas Co Ltd and chemical and fertilizer
producer Sinochem.
Cheniere said Foran will buy about 0.3 million tonnes per
annum (MTPA) of LNG at a price indexed to the U.S. Henry Hub
benchmark in Louisiana plus a fee.
Stage 3 would add up to seven mid-scale liquefaction trains
that would produce around 10 MTPA of LNG.
Analysts at Tudor, Pickering, Holt and Co said in a note on
Wednesday that Cheniere has already sold about 80% of the LNG
Stage 3 could produce.
Cheniere is already the biggest buyer of gas in the United
States and the biggest U.S. exporter of LNG with the capacity to
produce about 45 MTPA of LNG.
(Reporting By Scott DiSavino; editing by David Evans)
