Cheniere Partners Doubles Profit as LNG Exports Rise and Costs Drop
The US LNG exporter earned $1.16 billion in the second quarter on higher volumes and a 29 percent cut in operating expenses.
Cheniere Energy Partners reported $1.16 billion in net profit for the second quarter of 2026, up 110 percent from $552 million a year earlier, driven by higher export volumes and lower operating costs.4
Revenue rose five percent to $2.58 billion from $2.46 billion, with $1.9 billion coming from LNG sales and $34 million from regasification services. Operating costs fell to $1.24 billion from $1.74 billion, a 29 percent decline year-on-year.4 The profit gain outstripped the revenue increase, pointing to margin expansion even as oil-linked contract prices and spot LNG markets moved through the spring.
Cheniere Partners exported 396 trillion Btu across 108 cargos in the April-June quarter, up 13 percent from a year earlier, all from the Sabine Pass terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, which has nameplate capacity exceeding 30 million metric tons per annum.4 Adjusted EBITDA climbed 35 percent year-on-year to $983 million.4
The result landed five weeks after Cheniere Partners awarded Bechtel Energy a lump-sum engineering, procurement and construction contract for phase one of the Sabine Pass expansion project on Thursday (2026-05-28), marking the first formal expansion since the original six-train complex came online.2
Cheniere's volume growth comes as US gas output rises. Lower 48 marketed production averaged 117.2 billion cubic feet per day in the first quarter, up four percent from the same period in 2025, according to EIA data.1 The agency forecasts L48 production will increase three percent for the full year, with most of the gain concentrated in the second half.1
The Permian region is expected to produce 29.2 Bcf/d in 2026, six percent above 2025 levels.1 The Haynesville shale, closer to Sabine Pass and other Louisiana export plants, is forecast to grow six percent this year and eight percent in 2027.1 Rising domestic supply should keep feedstock costs moderate for Gulf Coast LNG plants, though summer power demand and inventory builds could tighten balances by September.
Cheniere Partners ended the quarter with $2.34 billion in liquidity, including $443 million in cash and cash equivalents and $1 billion available under its revolving credit facility.4 That balance sheet positions the company to fund the Sabine Pass expansion without immediate equity issuance, though construction spending will ramp through 2027 and 2028.
The earnings report came during a period of elevated European gas prices. ICE Endex TTF front-month gas closed at €60.82 per megawatt-hour at Monday's (2026-08-10) European close, up 9.6 percent on the day. European prices have traded above $20 per million Btu equivalent for much of the summer, supported by tight inventories and geopolitical risk in the Middle East.
Asian spot LNG, tracked by the JKM benchmark, traded at $21.26 per million Btu at Monday's (2026-08-10) close, while NYMEX Henry Hub front-month gas closed at $2.78 per million Btu the same day. The spread between the two benchmarks, net of liquefaction and shipping costs, determines the economics of US exports.
Shell reported adjusted earnings of $9.84 billion for its own second quarter on Thursday (2026-07-30), more than double the $4.26 billion a year earlier, citing higher oil and gas prices, refinery utilization and trading gains.3 Shell is both an LNG producer and a significant buyer under long-term contracts with US terminals, including Sabine Pass.
Whether Cheniere can sustain margin gains into the second half depends on feedstock costs and the Atlantic arbitrage. US gas production is rising, but summer demand from power generation could tighten balances. European TTF prices and Asian JKM levels decide whether high-margin spot cargos remain available to supplement contract volumes, or whether exporters revert to formula-linked pricing that compresses unit earnings when crude softens.