USA: Cheniere Signs MOU with Endesa and Enel Trade for Bi-Directional Processing Capacity at Sabine Pass LNG Terminal

Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. announced today that its subsidiary, Sabine Pass Liquefaction, LLC, has entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Endesa, S.A., a Spanish corporation, and Enel Trade S.p.A., an Italian corporation.

Subject to the terms and conditions of the MOU, Sabine, Endesa, and Enel Trade have agreed to proceed with negotiations to contract up to 1.5 million tonnes per annum (“mtpa”) of bi-directional LNG processing capacity at the Sabine Pass LNG terminal located in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, subject to certain conditions precedent, including but not limited to the receipt by each party of requisite internal approvals, Sabine’s receipt of regulatory approvals and making a final investment decision to construct the liquefaction facilities.

Endesa, an Enel Group company, is the leading Spanish electric utility and the top ranking private electricity multinational in Latin America. Endesa operates in ten countries, has more than 26,300 employees and controls nearly 40,000 MW of installed capacity, with sales of approximately 169,900 GWh and a customer base of 24.6 million. Its main business activity is the generation, transmission, distribution and supply of electricity. The company is an increasingly important operator in the natural gas sector, has significant operations in renewables, and provides various other energy-related services.

Enel Trade is a subsidiary of Enel, Italy’s largest power company and Europe’s second listed utility by installed capacity. It is an integrated player which produces, distributes and sells electricity and gas. The Enel Group has a presence in forty countries over four continents, has around 95,000 MW of net installed capacity and sells power and gas to more than 61 million customers.

“We are pleased to announce the start of negotiations of definitive agreements with Endesa and Enel Trade,” said Charif Souki, Chairman and CEO of Cheniere Partners. “To date we have entered into MOUs for up to 9.8 mtpa of processing capacity, which exceeds our targeted capacity of 7.0 mtpa for the first two trains. Our MOU process has demonstrated that there is significant interest in our project. We now look forward to converting these non-binding MOUs into definitive agreements and finalizing reserved capacity for customers.”

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Source: Cheniere Energy Partners, February 17, 2011;