24 May 2017, Sweetcrude, Houston, Texas – Cheniere Energy Inc has said it has had extensive negotiations with China about increasing U.S. liquefied natural gas exports, as a new trade deal paves the way for the second wave of LNG investment in the world’s fastest growing gas supplier.
The Trump Administration last week said it reached an agreement with China to increase trade access for some U.S. companies to China, which is expected to include LNG exports.
That should benefit several companies building LNG export terminals in the United States, as the U.S. is forecast to become the third largest LNG exporter by the end of next year.
Cheniere is currently the only company able to export large cargoes of LNG from the continental United States, giving it a leg up now to ink long-term contracts with China, the world’s largest growth market for gas.
“We’re heartened by this trade deal for its potential to increase Chinese access to American LNG,” Cheniere spokesman Eben Burnham-Snyder told Reuters.
“We have had extensive negotiations with the Chinese over the last month,” he said. Cheniere has also shipped LNG to 20 other countries around the globe and is in talks to ship to more.