Cheniere Energy, Inc.

What does Cheniere Energy own?
The company owns the Sabine Pass LNG terminal in Louisiana (held through its 48.6 percent limited partner stake in Cheniere Energy Partners), the Corpus Christi LNG terminal in Texas, supply pipelines, and a global LNG marketing business.

Is Cheniere Energy publicly traded?
Yes. It trades on the NYSE American under ticker LNG. Its Sabine Pass partnership entity, Cheniere Energy Partners, trades separately under CQP.

Who founded Cheniere Energy?
Charif Souki founded the company in Houston in 1996 and led its conversion from an LNG importer to an exporter. He departed in 2015; Jack Fusco has been CEO since 2016.

Where is Cheniere Energy headquartered?
The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas, with its terminals in Louisiana and South Texas.

How big is Cheniere Energy?
It reported $20.0 billion in revenue and produced over 46 million tonnes of LNG in fiscal 2025, making it the largest US LNG producer and second largest globally. Approximately 1,700 people work for the company.

Who owns Cheniere Energy?
Public shareholders own it through the NYSE American listing, with institutional investors holding most shares and no controlling owner.

When did Cheniere start exporting LNG?
The first cargo left Sabine Pass in February 2016, making the United States a new LNG exporter. Cheniere celebrated ten years of exports in early 2026.

Charif Souki founded Cheniere in 1996 as a small oil and gas exploration company, then pivoted it into LNG import terminals in the early 2000s, betting that America would need foreign gas. He built the regasification terminal at Sabine Pass, Louisiana just as the shale revolution made the import logic obsolete.

The audacious reversal followed. Facing a stranded import asset, Souki proposed converting Sabine Pass into an export terminal, a plan most analysts dismissed as fantasy when announced around 2010. Financing depended on signing customers to 20-year take-or-pay contracts, which Cheniere secured from global buyers including BG Group, TotalEnergies, and Korea Gas Corporation, proving demand before borrowing billions to build.

Construction began in 2012, and the first cargo left Sabine Pass in February 2016, making the United States an LNG exporter for the first time since the 1950s Alaska pilot. Souki departed in 2015 amid an activist investor push led by Carl Icahn, and Jack Fusco, a veteran power and energy executive, took over in 2016.

Under Fusco the company built Corpus Christi LNG starting in 2015, completed six trains at Sabine Pass, and expanded into a marketing operation selling uncommitted volumes. The Corpus Christi Stage 3 expansion, more than 9 mtpa of additional capacity, was roughly 95 percent complete by early 2026 with trains reaching first production through the year. Fiscal 2025's $20 billion revenue year coincided with the ten-year export anniversary and record production.

Cheniere's sustainability position is inherently contested: its product displaces coal in power generation, reducing lifecycle emissions at the point of combustion, while its methane supply chain and liquefaction energy use carry their own footprint.

The company publishes life-cycle analysis reports for delivered cargoes, has set emissions measurement programs covering its supply chain, and pursues feedgas certification through responsibly sourced gas partnerships with producers.

It holds no B Corp or equivalent certification, and environmental groups contest the industry claim that LNG is a transition fuel, pointing to methane leakage erasing combustion advantages. That debate is structural to the business rather than a company-specific controversy.

Climate and transition criticism: Environmental groups target Cheniere's expansion plans as incompatible with climate goals, arguing LNG locks in fossil infrastructure for decades. The company's response centers on coal displacement and supply security rather than claiming green status.

Permitting and FERC litigation: Terminal expansions have faced environmental review challenges and litigation from opponents over air permits and FERC approvals, standard for large energy infrastructure, with projects generally proceeding after review.

Air permit disputes: The Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi facilities have drawn periodic complaints and enforcement matters over flaring and emissions from environmental groups and Texas regulators, resolved through monitoring and compliance actions.

Charif Souki governance era: The founder's 2015 departure followed activist investor pressure over spending and strategy, a governance chapter long since closed under Fusco's disciplined regime.