French State-Owned Energy Company, ENGIE, Will Import U.S. LNG Beginning in 2018

On October 28, 2015, French energy company ENGIE signed a 5-year Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Cheniere Marketing International LLP, a Houston-based company specializing in business development for LNG facilities.

Under the SPA, ENGIE is committed to purchase 12 cargoes of liquefied natural gas per year from Cheniere, which will be imported from the Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi LNG terminals.  Importation will begin in 2018.  The Sabine Pass terminal is expected to be fully operational within the first quarter of 2016 while the Corpus Christi site remains under development.

According to a media report, “those trade agreements underline an overall energy policy aimed to diversify French supplies and limit the growing influence of Russia in the European energy market.” In a Press Release, Pierre Chareyre, Executive Vice President of the project, declared that “ENGIE is committed to guarantee the supply of its European customers with clean and reliable energy. Importing US LNG will participate to strengthen the security of supply of Europe. Besides, in the context of the energy transition, natural gas is the perfect partner for renewables energies, since it is flexible and abundant.”

Further information on the Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi LNG terminals is available respectively at http://www.cheniere.com/terminals/sabine-pass/ and http://www.cheniere.com/terminals/corpus-christi-project/. 

Written by Chloe Marie - Research Fellow

01/20/2016