Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation |
9 Months Ended |
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Sep. 30, 2020 | |
| Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract] | |
| Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation | NATURE OF OPERATIONS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION We are operating and constructing two natural gas liquefaction and export facilities at Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi. The Sabine Pass LNG terminal is located in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, on the Sabine-Neches Waterway less than four miles from the Gulf Coast. Cheniere Partners, through its subsidiary SPL, is currently operating five natural gas liquefaction Trains and is constructing one additional Train for a total production capacity of approximately 30 mtpa of LNG (the “SPL Project”) at the Sabine Pass LNG terminal. The Sabine Pass LNG terminal has operational regasification facilities owned by Cheniere Partners’ subsidiary, SPLNG, that include pre-existing infrastructure of five LNG storage tanks, two marine berths and vaporizers and an additional marine berth that is under construction. Cheniere Partners also owns a 94-mile pipeline that interconnects the Sabine Pass LNG terminal with a number of large interstate pipelines (the “Creole Trail Pipeline”) through its subsidiary, CTPL. As of September 30, 2020, we owned 100% of the general partner interest and 48.6% of the limited partner interest in Cheniere Partners.
The Corpus Christi LNG terminal is located near Corpus Christi, Texas and is operated and constructed by our subsidiary, CCL. We are currently operating two Trains and one additional Train is undergoing commissioning for a total production capacity of approximately 15 mtpa of LNG. We also operate a 23-mile natural gas supply pipeline that interconnects the Corpus Christi LNG terminal with several interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines (the “Corpus Christi Pipeline” and together with the Trains, the “CCL Project”) through our subsidiary, CCP. The CCL Project, once fully constructed, will contain three LNG storage tanks and two marine berths.
Additionally, separate from the CCH Group, we are developing an expansion of the Corpus Christi LNG terminal adjacent to the CCL Project (“Corpus Christi Stage 3”) through our subsidiary CCL Stage III, for up to seven midscale Trains with an expected total production capacity of approximately 10 mtpa of LNG. We received approval from FERC in November 2019 to site, construct and operate the expansion project.
We remain focused on operational excellence and customer satisfaction. Increasing demand of LNG has allowed us to expand our liquefaction infrastructure in a financially disciplined manner. We hold significant land positions at both the Sabine Pass LNG terminal and the Corpus Christi LNG terminal which provide opportunity for further liquefaction capacity expansion. The development of these sites or other projects, including infrastructure projects in support of natural gas supply and LNG demand, will require, among other things, acceptable commercial and financing arrangements before we make a final investment decision (“FID”).
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements of Cheniere have been prepared in accordance with GAAP for interim financial information and with Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying notes included in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019.
Results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations that will be realized for the year ending December 31, 2020.
Recent Accounting Standards
In August 2020, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2020-06, Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity. This guidance simplifies the accounting for convertible instruments primarily by eliminating the existing cash conversion and beneficial conversion models within Subtopic 470-20, which will result in fewer embedded conversion options being accounted for separately from the debt host. The guidance also amends and simplifies the calculation of earnings per share relating to convertible instruments. This guidance is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2021, including interim periods within that reporting period, with earlier adoption permitted for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020,
including interim periods within that reporting period, using either a full or modified retrospective approach. We are currently evaluating the impact of the provisions of this guidance on our Consolidated Financial Statements and related disclosures.
In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting. This guidance primarily provides temporary optional expedients which simplify the accounting for contract modifications to existing debt agreements expected to arise from the market transition from LIBOR to alternative reference rates. The optional expedients were available to be used upon issuance of this guidance but we have not yet applied the guidance because we have not yet modified any of our existing contracts for reference rate reform. Once we apply an optional expedient to a modified contract and adopt this standard, the guidance will be applied to all subsequent applicable contract modifications until December 31, 2022, at which time the optional expedients are no longer available.
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