Cheniere drops lawsuit against Tellurian

US LNG export project developer, Tellurian, said that all claims made by Cheniere against Tellurian chairman Charif Souki and vice-chairman Martin Houston have been dismissed. 

The lawsuit was filed against former Cheniere’s CEO Charif Souki in February last year, with Cheniere claiming Souki conspired to finance a joint venture that led to the creation of Tellurian, which is seen as a rival company.

Tellurian is developing Driftwood LNG, a proposed 27.6 mtpa liquefaction export facility and associated infrastructure that will be located near Lake Charles, Louisiana on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The project is backed by a lump sum turnkey engineering and procurement contract with Bechtel that guarantees cost, performance and schedule. Bechtel has progressed the engineering to over 28% complete, all construction permits have been secured, and the project is shovel ready. Work is expected to begin this year, with the first liquefaction in 2023.

Commercially, Tellurian has contracted with Total as an equity partner, and in late 2019, Tellurian signed a memorandum of understanding with Petronet in the presence of India’s Prime Minister Modi and with the support of both U.S. and Indian governments.

Souki, who dismissed the lawsuit as frivolous, said, “I look forward to my next trip to India and anticipate finalizing our agreements by the end of March.”