(Reuters) – Cheniere Energy reported a rise in third-quarter profit on Thursday, on the back of strong demand for liquefied natural gas, sending its shares up 1.8% in premarket trading.
Already the world’s top LNG exporter, the United States is set to lift nameplate capacity to 115 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) this year, data from the Energy Information Administration shows, as demand from Asia and Europe continues to grow.
In July, the European Union pledged $750 billion worth in strategic LNG purchases from U.S. as part of a sweeping trade pact.
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The U.S. exported a record 9.1 million metric tons (MT) of LNG in September, according to preliminary data from financial firm LSEG.
Cheniere exported 163 cargoes of LNG in the three months ended September 30, up 3% from a year earlier.
It plans to double its current LNG production to 90 million metric tonnes per annum by building more export facilities at Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi.
The company’s Corpus Christi Stage 3 project, an export facility in South Texas, was 90.5% complete as of September 30.
Upon completion, Cheniere is expected to add 10 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) of LNG to its production capacity of 15 mtpa at the facility.
Cheniere’s LNG revenue was $4.30 billion in the third quarter, compared with $3.55 billion from a year earlier.
However, Cheniere reported an adjusted core profit of $1.61 billion, missing analysts’ average estimate of $1.66 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG, on lower contributions from certain portfolio optimization activities.
The company, which is the largest U.S. exporter of LNG, reported net income attributable to Cheniere at $1.05 billion, or $4.75 per share, for the quarter ended September 30, compared with $893 million, or $3.93 per share, a year earlier.
Reporting by Tanay Dhumal in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri
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