Cheniere Energy Partners LP unit Sabine Pass Liquefaction LLC is in talks with Spain’s Gas Natural Fenosa to provide gas liquefaction services at facilities it proposes to construct at the existing Sabine Pass liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Cameron Parish, LA, Cheniere said Monday.

Gas Natural Fenosa and Sabine Pass have agreed to proceed with negotiations of agreements for Gas Natural Fenosa to contract bidirectional capacity at the terminal. Gas Natural Fenosa could take up to 1.5 million metric tons per year of bidirectional LNG processing capacity, Cheniere said.

Cheniere recently said Sabine was in separate discussions with China’s ENN Energy Trading Co. Ltd. and Morgan Stanley Capital Group Inc. for similar services (see Daily GPI, Nov. 12).

“This is another significant development for our liquefaction project at Sabine Pass and we are pleased to announce the start of negotiations of definitive agreements with Gas Natural Fenosa,” said Cheniere Partners CEO Charif Souki. “Including this MOU [ memorandum of understanding] we have entered into MOUs for approximately 4.7 [million metric tons per year] of LNG processing capacity and look forward to finalizing discussions with additional customers.”

Separately, Freeport LNG and Macquarie Energy said recently they will develop export capability on the site of Freeport’s existing import terminal in Texas. Macquarie Energy is the North American energy marketing and trading arm of Australia’s Macquarie Group (see Daily GPI, Nov. 23).

As currently contemplated, the Sabine Pass liquefaction project would be designed and permitted for up to four modular LNG trains, each with a peak processing capacity of up to approximately 0.7 Bcf/d and an average liquefaction processing capacity of approximately 3.5 million metric tons per year. The initial project phase is anticipated to include two modular trains and the capacity to process about 1.2 Bcf/d of pipeline-quality gas. Export of LNG could begin in 2015, Cheniere said.

Gas Natural Fenosa operates in 23 countries and has more than 20 million customers, according to its website. It is the largest integrated gas and power company in Spain and one of the world’s largest LNG operators.

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