HOUSTON— Cheniere Energy Partners LP (NYSE MKT: CQP) said Feb. 24 that a tanker carrying LNG will depart imminently from its Sabine Pass liquefaction project in Cameron Parish, La.

Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, speaking at an IHS CERAWeek luncheon, said the tanker will carry about 3 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of LNG. LNG is loading onto the LNG carrier Asia Vision, which is bound for Brazil and chartered by Cheniere Marketing LLC, the company said.

Moniz said he learned at about 1 p.m. CST that the tanker “is now fully loaded and, I understand, within hours will be sailing for Brazil.”

As Moniz paused, the crowd erupted in applause at the announcement.

UPDATE: Late on Feb.24 Petrobas said it is the buyer of the shipment. The company said 160,000 cubic meters of LNG, equivalent to 96 million cubic meters of natural gas. The fuel will be taken to Petrobras’ regasification terminal in All Saints’ Bay, Bahia on the vessel Asia Vision (shown). Following regasification at the terminal in Bahia, the fuel will be pumped into Petrobras’ network of gas pipelines to supply Brazil’s domestic market, mainly for use in thermal power plants.

The shipment signifies the global effects of shale gas production. Cheniere’s Sabine Pass terminal was originally meant to convert LNG imports for use in what was a gas-starved U.S.

Cheniere’s Train 1 has been producing LNG with a focus on pushing out an LNG shipment. The company is aiming for 3.8 Bcf/d in export capacity. Cheniere is also developing an LNG terminal in Corpus Christi, Texas, with 3.2 Bcf/d export capacity.

Neal Shear, board chair and interim CEO of Cheniere Partners, said the historic event opens a new chapter in energy trade for the country and is a significant milestone for the company’s commercial operations.

"This accomplishment would not have been possible without many years of hard work by our employees, our construction partner, Bechtel, other contractors and thousands of workers at the Sabine Pass site,” Shear said. “We especially want to thank our federal, state and local agencies, elected officials and community leaders from across Louisiana and the United States for their continued support and contributions during development and construction."

The Sabine Pass LNG terminal includes five existing LNG storage tanks with capacity of about 16.9 billion cubic feet equivalent (Bcfe). The terminal has two docks that can accommodate vessels with nominal capacity of up to 266,000 cubic meters and vaporizers with regasification capacity of about 4 Bcf/d.

Cheniere Partners also owns a 94-mile pipeline that interconnects the Sabine Pass LNG terminal with several large interstate pipelines. Cheniere Partners’ subsidiary, Sabine Pass LNG LP, owns 100% of the Sabine Pass LNG terminal located on the Sabine-Neches Waterway less than four miles from the Gulf Coast.

Cheniere Partners’ subsidiary Sabine Pass Liquefaction LLC (SPL) is developing and constructing natural gas liquefaction facilities at the Sabine Pass LNG terminal adjacent to the existing regasification facilities.

Cheniere plans to construct up to six liquefaction trains, which are in various stages of construction and development. Each liquefaction train’s nominal production capacity will be about 4.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG.

SPL has entered into six third-party LNG sale and purchase agreements (SPAs) that in the aggregate equate to about 19.75 mtpa of LNG. These SPAs will begin on the date of first commercial delivery of Trains 1 through 5.

Darren Barbee can be reached at dbarbee@hartenergy.com.

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