Cheniere Energy exported a record 167 liquefied natural gas cargoes in first-quarter 2023, eking past prior the company’s prior record of 166 cargoes set in fourth-quarter 2022.

The export cargos corresponded to volumes of 603 trillion Btu (TBtu) compared to 601 TBtu in fourth-quarter 2022, Cheniere's President and CEO Jack Fusco said during the company’s May 2 earnings webcast.

In comparison, Cheniere exported 160 LNG cargoes in first-quarter 2022, which corresponded to volumes of 584 TBtu, according to details in the company’s first-quarter 2023 earnings release.

“We set a new quarterly LNG production record in the first quarter, which is a testament to our steadfast commitment to safe and reliable operations across the Cheniere platform,” Fusco added in the release.

Cheniere currently boasts liquefaction capacity of 45 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). Over the near- and long-term the company aims to ramp up capacity through additional brownfield expansion and debottlenecking opportunities.

Corpus Christi liquefaction Stage 3 Trains 1-7 and midscale Trains 8-9 will add around 15 mtpa and boost capacity to around 60 mtpa in the near-term. Sabine Pass expansion and Corpus Christi Stage 4 will push capacity to around 90 mtpa over the long-term.

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Cheniere’s current liquefaction capacity will allow the U.S. to continue to supply LNG to Europe to offset the loss of Russian gas volumes after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Thereafter, new liquefaction capacity will allow the U.S. to also supply countries across Asia where gas demand is expected to soar.

Limited LNG supply growth through 2024

Cheniere Chief Commercial Officer Anatol Feygin said during the webcast that U.S. LNG exports were broadly flat year-over-year as Freeport LNG restarted production in February after going offline in June of 2022.

“While the uptick in global LNG production over the past few months has helped to balance the market and further stabilize price levels throughout the first quarter, we expect limited overall supply growth this year, as a few new projects are scheduled to come online in the next 18 months,” Feygin said.

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In the meantime, Feygin said supply and demand were expected to “remain precariously balanced and sensitive to supply disruptions, weather and demand shocks.”

“We remain optimistic that the U.S. will continue to be a critical source of flexible supply in the market,” he said. “U.S. flows to Europe continued to remain strong in the first quarter [of 2023], helping ease market pressures and contributing to moderating prices.”

Net income turnaround

Cheniere reported a net income of $5.4 billion in the first quarter of 2023 compared to a loss of $865 million in the same quarter a year ago, the company said in its press release.

The difference was due to favorable changes in the fair value of the company’s derivative portfolio and increased total margins per MMBtu of LNG delivered, partially offset by a higher provision for income tax and a higher contribution to non-controlling interests, according to Cheniere.

The LNG shipper has reported positive net income for two consecutive quarters. Based on an improved financial outlook, the company is raising its full-year EBITDA guidance by $200 million to between $8.2 billion and $8.7 billion. Guidance for distributed cash flow is $5.7 billion to $6.2 billion.

“The increase is mainly driven by the team capturing and locking in higher margins, both upstream and downstream of our facility,” Fusco said during the webcast.

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