For the last four years, Cheniere Energy (NYSE:LNG), which earlier this year became the first and only company in the US to export LNG, has been busy developing massive export facilities at Sabine Pass, Louisiana and Corpus Christi, Texas. During this year, the company has consistently reported large losses that have far exceeded the revenues.
Its losses, in fact, have been growing while revenues have been largely steady. Last year, for instance, Cheniere Energy's net loss clocked in at $975.1 million from revenues of just $270.9 million. That loss was significantly higher than the loss of $547.9 million seen in 2014 from revenues of $267.9 million.
Cheniere Energy's investors have been patiently waiting for the company to begin commercial operations after finishing construction work on the LNG production lines, also called trains. And now, it appears that the investors are starting to see the fruits of their patience.
Earlier this year, Cheniere Energy brought the first train at Sabine Pass online. The facility came online and began contributing to the company's revenues from late-May. In the second quarter, Cheniere exported a total of 39 million MMBtu of liquefied gas from Train-1. Then, in the third quarter, on September 15, Train-2 achieved completion and began exporting the fuel. That has further lifted the company's revenues, which was reflected in the recently released third-quarter results.
In the second quarter, Train-1 operated for just a few weeks, but it was enough to lift the company's revenues by 2.6 times from a year earlier to $176.8 million. Those revenues came, as the company, for the first time, recognized significant LNG revenues of $110.7 million. In the third quarter, the company was expected to post an even bigger jump in sales, considering that Train-2 came online in this quarter and it was the first full quarter in which Train-1 was fully operational. But the increase was
