Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Share-Based Compensation

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Share-Based Compensation
 6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2018
Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]  
Share-Based Compensation
SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION
  
We have granted restricted stock shares, restricted stock units, performance stock units and phantom units to employees and non-employee directors under the Amended and Restated 2003 Stock Incentive Plan, as amended, the 2011 Incentive Plan, as amended (the “2011 Plan”), the 2015 Employee Inducement Incentive Plan and the 2015 Long-Term Cash Incentive Plan.

For the six months ended June 30, 2018, we granted 2.3 million restricted stock units and 0.2 million performance stock units at target performance under the 2011 Plan to certain employees. Restricted stock units are stock awards that vest over a two- to three-year service period and entitle the holder to receive shares of our common stock upon vesting, subject to restrictions on transfer and to a risk of forfeiture if the recipient terminates employment with us prior to the lapse of the restrictions. Performance stock units provide for three-year cliff vesting with payouts based on our cumulative distributable cash flow per share from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2020 compared to a pre-established performance target. The number of shares that may be earned at the end of the vesting period ranges from 50 to 200 percent of the target award amount if the threshold performance is met. Both restricted stock units and performance stock units will be settled in Cheniere common stock (on a one-for-one basis) and are classified as equity awards.

Total share-based compensation consisted of the following (in millions):
 
 
Three Months Ended June 30,
 
Six Months Ended June 30,
 
 
2018
 
2017
 
2018
 
2017
Share-based compensation costs, pre-tax:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Equity awards
 
$
22

 
$
10

 
$
39

 
$
15

Liability awards
 
15

 
17

 
32

 
44

Total share-based compensation
 
37


27


71


59

Capitalized share-based compensation
 
(7
)
 
(5
)
 
(13
)
 
(13
)
Total share-based compensation expense
 
$
30


$
22


$
58


$
46

Tax benefit associated with share-based compensation expense
 
$
—

 
$
2

 
$
2

 
$
2



For further discussion of our equity incentive plans, see Note 16—Share-Based Compensation of our Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017.