Cheniere Energy Partners, L.P. Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Financial Instruments (Notes)

Financial Instruments (Notes)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2014

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]

Financial Instruments

FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

Derivative Instruments

We have entered into the following derivative instruments that are reported at fair value:


•	commodity derivatives to hedge the exposure to variability in expected future cash flows attributable to the future sale of our LNG inventory (“LNG Inventory Derivatives”);


•	commodity derivatives to hedge the exposure to price risk attributable to future purchases of natural gas to be utilized as fuel to operate the Sabine Pass LNG terminal (“Fuel Derivatives”);


•	commodity derivatives consisting of natural gas purchase agreements to secure natural gas feed stock for the Liquefaction Project (“Term Gas Supply Derivatives”); and


•	interest rate swaps to hedge the exposure to volatility in a portion of the floating-rate interest payments under the 2013 Liquefaction Credit Facilities (“Interest Rate Derivatives”).

The following table (in thousands) shows the fair value of our derivative assets and liabilities that are required to be measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of September 30, 2014 and December 31, 2013, which are included in prepaid expenses and other current assets, non-current derivative assets and other current liabilities in our Consolidated Balance Sheets.



	Fair Value Measurements as of
	September 30, 2014										December 31, 2013
	Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)			Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)		Total			Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)			Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)		Total
LNG Inventory Derivatives liability	$	—	$	(218	)	$	—	$	(218	)	$	—	$	(161	)	$	—	$	(161	)
Fuel Derivatives asset	—		—			—		—			—		27			—		27
Interest Rate Derivatives asset	—		15,059			—		15,059			—		84,639			—		84,639

The estimated fair values of our LNG Inventory Derivatives and Fuel Derivatives are the amounts at which the instruments could be exchanged currently between willing parties. We value these derivatives using observable commodity price curves and other relevant data. We value our Interest Rate Derivatives using valuations based on the initial trade prices. Using an income-based approach, subsequent valuations are based on observable inputs to the valuation model including interest rate curves, risk adjusted discount rates, credit spreads and other relevant data. The fair value of our Term Gas Supply Derivatives is developed through the use of internal models which are impacted by inputs that are unobservable in the marketplace. As a result, the fair value of our Term Gas Supply Derivatives is designated as Level 3 within the valuation hierarchy. Internal fair value models for our index-priced Term Gas Supply Derivatives that include contractual pricing with a fixed basis include fixed basis amounts for delivery at locations for which no market currently exists. Internal fair value models for our index-priced Term Gas Supply Derivatives also include conditions precedent to the respective long-term natural gas purchase agreements. As of September 30, 2014, our Term Gas Supply Derivatives existed within markets for which the pipeline infrastructure has not been developed to accommodate marketable physical gas flow and our internal fair value models were based on a market price that equated to our own contractual pricing due to the inactive and unobservable market as well as the conditions precedent and their impact on the uncertainty in the timing of our actual receipt of the physical volumes associated with each forward. As a result, we estimated the fair value of our Term Gas Supply Derivatives to be zero as of September 30, 2014.

Derivative assets and liabilities arising from our derivative contracts with the same counterparty are reported on a net basis, as all counterparty derivative contracts provide for net settlement.

Commodity Derivatives

We recognize all commodity derivative instruments that qualify for derivative accounting treatment, including our LNG Inventory Derivatives and Fuel Derivatives, as either assets or liabilities and measure those instruments at fair value unless they qualify for, and we elect, the normal purchase normal sale exception. For transactions in which we have elected the normal purchase normal sale exception, gains and losses are not reflected on our Consolidated Statements of Operations until the period of delivery. For those instruments accounted for as derivatives, including our LNG Inventory Derivatives and certain of our Fuel Derivatives, changes in fair value are reported in earnings.

The use of derivative instruments exposes us to counterparty credit risk, or the risk that a counterparty will be unable to meet its commitments in instances where our Fuel Derivatives or our LNG Inventory Derivatives are in an asset position. Except for the fuel hedges with our affiliate described below, our commodity derivative transactions are executed through over-the-counter contracts which are subject to nominal credit risk as these transactions are settled on a daily margin basis with investment grade financial institutions. We are required by these financial institutions to use margin deposits as credit support for our commodity derivative activities. Collateral of $0.3 million and $0.9 million deposited for such contracts, which has not been reflected in the derivative fair value tables, is included in prepaid expenses and other current assets in our Consolidated Balance Sheets as of September 30, 2014 and December 31, 2013, respectively.

During the second quarter of 2013, Sabine Pass LNG began to enter into forward contracts under an International Swaps and Derivatives Association master agreement with Cheniere Marketing, LLC (“Cheniere Marketing”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Cheniere, to hedge the exposure to price risk attributable to future purchases of natural gas to be utilized as fuel to operate the Sabine Pass LNG terminal. Sabine Pass LNG elected to account for these physical hedges of future fuel purchases as normal purchase normal sale transactions, exempt from fair value accounting. Sabine Pass LNG had not posted collateral with Cheniere Marketing for such forward contracts as of September 30, 2014 and December 31, 2013.

The following table (in thousands) shows the fair value and location of our LNG Inventory Derivatives and Fuel Derivatives on our Consolidated Balance Sheets:



		Fair Value Measurements as of
	Balance Sheet Location	September 30, 2014			December 31, 2013
LNG Inventory Derivatives liability	Prepaid expenses and other	$	(218	)	$	(161	)
Fuel Derivatives asset	Prepaid expenses and other	—			27

The following table (in thousands) shows the changes in the fair value and settlements of our LNG Inventory Derivatives recorded in revenues on our Consolidated Statements of Operations during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014 and 2013:



	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2014		2013		2014			2013
LNG Inventory Derivatives loss	$	—	$	—	$	(31	)	$	(442	)

The following table (in thousands) shows the changes in the fair value and settlements of our Fuel Derivatives and LNG Inventory Derivatives recorded in derivative gain (loss), net on our Consolidated Statements of Operations during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014 and 2013:



	Three Months Ended September 30,					Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2014		2013			2014			2013
LNG Inventory Derivatives gain (loss)	$	194	$	201		$	(345	)	$	976
Fuel Derivatives gain (loss) (1)	—		(55		)	281			(3		)

(1)Excludes settlements of hedges of the exposure to price risk attributable to future purchases of natural gas to be utilized

as fuel to operate the Sabine Pass LNG terminal for which Sabine Pass LNG has elected the normal purchase normal sale exception from derivative accounting and has recorded as operating and maintenance expense.

Natural Gas Purchase Agreements

We have entered into index-based physical natural gas supply contracts to secure natural gas feed stock for the Liquefaction Project. The terms of these contracts range from approximately one to seven years and commence upon the occurrence of conditions precedent, including the date of first commercial operation of specified Trains of the Liquefaction Project. We recognize our natural gas purchase agreements as either assets or liabilities and measure those instruments at fair value. Changes in the fair value of our Term Gas Supply Derivatives are reported in earnings.

As of September 30, 2014, our Term Gas Supply Derivatives existed within markets for which the pipeline infrastructure has not been developed to accommodate marketable physical gas flow and our internal fair value models were based on a market price that equated to our own contractual pricing due to the inactive and unobservable market as well as the conditions precedent and their impact on the uncertainty in the timing of our actual receipt of the physical volumes associated with each forward. As a result, we estimated the fair value of our Term Gas Supply Derivatives to be zero as of September 30, 2014. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014, there were no settlements or changes in the fair value of our Term Gas Supply Derivatives recorded in operating and maintenance expense on our Consolidated Statements of Operations. As of September 30, 2014, the forward notional natural gas buy position of our Term Gas Supply Derivatives was approximately 2,161,000,000 MMBtu.

Interest Rate Derivatives

In August 2012 and June 2013, Sabine Pass Liquefaction entered into Interest Rate Derivatives to protect against volatility of future cash flows and hedge a portion of the variable interest payments on the 2012 Liquefaction Credit Facility and the 2013 Liquefaction Credit Facilities, respectively. The Interest Rate Derivatives hedge a portion of the expected outstanding borrowings over the term of the 2013 Liquefaction Credit Facilities.

Sabine Pass Liquefaction designated the Interest Rate Derivatives entered into in August 2012 as hedging instruments, which was required in order to qualify for cash flow hedge accounting. As a result of this cash flow hedge designation, we recognized the Interest Rate Derivatives entered into in August 2012 as an asset or liability at fair value, and reflected changes in fair value through other comprehensive income in our Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss. Any hedge ineffectiveness associated with the Interest Rate Derivatives entered into in August 2012 was recorded immediately as derivative gain (loss) in our Consolidated Statements of Operations. The realized gain (loss) on the Interest Rate Derivatives entered into in August 2012 was recorded as an (increase) decrease in interest expense on our Consolidated Statements of Operations to the extent not capitalized as part of the Liquefaction Project. The effective portion of the gains or losses on our Interest Rate Derivatives entered into in August 2012 recorded in other comprehensive income would have been reclassified to earnings as interest payments on the 2012 Liquefaction Credit Facility impact earnings. In addition, amounts recorded in other comprehensive income are also reclassified into earnings if it becomes probable that the hedged forecasted transaction will not occur.

Sabine Pass Liquefaction did not elect to designate the Interest Rate Derivatives entered into in June 2013 as cash flow hedging instruments, and changes in fair value are recorded as derivative gain (loss) within our Consolidated Statements of Operations.

During the first quarter of 2013, Sabine Pass Liquefaction determined that it was no longer probable that the forecasted variable interest payments on the 2012 Liquefaction Credit Facility would occur in the time period originally specified based on the continued development of our financing strategy for the Liquefaction Project, and in particular, the Sabine Pass Liquefaction Senior Notes described in Note 7—“Long-Term Debt.” As a result, all of the Interest Rate Derivatives entered into in August 2012 were no longer effective hedges, and the remaining portion of hedge relationships that were designated cash flow hedges as of December 31, 2012, were de-designated as of February 1, 2013. For de-designated cash flow hedges, changes in fair value prior to their de-designation date were recorded as other comprehensive income (loss) within our Consolidated Balance Sheets, and changes in fair value subsequent to their de-designation date were recorded as derivative gain (loss) within our Consolidated Statements of Operations.

In June 2013, Sabine Pass Liquefaction concluded that the hedged forecasted transactions associated with the Interest Rate Derivatives entered into in connection with the 2012 Liquefaction Credit Facility had become probable of not occurring based on the issuances of the Sabine Pass Liquefaction Senior Notes, the closing of the 2013 Liquefaction Credit Facilities, the additional Interest Rate Derivatives executed in June 2013, and Sabine Pass Liquefaction’s intention to continue to issue fixed rate debt to refinance the 2013 Liquefaction Credit Facilities. As a result, the amount remaining in accumulated other comprehensive income (“AOCI”) pertaining to the previously designated Interest Rate Derivatives was reclassified out of AOCI and into income. We have presented the changes in fair value and settlements subsequent to the reclassification date separate from interest expense as derivative gain (loss), net in our Consolidated Statements of Operations.

In May 2014, Sabine Pass Liquefaction settled a portion of its Interest Rate Derivatives and we recognized a derivative loss of $9.3 million within our Consolidated Statements of Operations in conjunction with the termination of approximately $2.1 billion of commitments under the 2013 Liquefaction Credit Facilities as discussed in Note 7—“Long-Term Debt.”

At September 30, 2014, Sabine Pass Liquefaction had the following Interest Rate Derivatives outstanding:

Initial Notional Amount

Maximum Notional Amount

Effective Date

Maturity Date

Weighted Average Fixed Interest Rate Paid

Variable Interest Rate Received

Interest Rate Derivatives - Not Designated

$20.0 million

$2.5 billion

August 14, 2012

July 31, 2019

1.98%

One-month LIBOR

The following table (in thousands) shows the fair value of our Interest Rate Derivatives:



		Fair Value Measurements as of
	Balance Sheet Location	September 30, 2014			December 31, 2013
Interest Rate Derivatives - Not Designated	Non-current derivative assets	$	32,161		$	98,123
Interest Rate Derivatives - Not Designated	Other current liabilities	(17,102		)	(13,484		)

The following table (in thousands) details the effect of our Interest Rate Derivatives included in Other Comprehensive Income (“OCI”) and AOCI during the nine months ended September 30, 2014 and 2013:



	Gain (Loss) in Other Comprehensive Income					Gain (Loss) Reclassified from AOCI into Interest Expense (Effective Portion)				Losses Reclassified into Earnings as a Result of Discontinuance of Cash Flow Hedge Accounting
	2014		2013			2014		2013		2014		2013
Interest Rate Derivatives - Designated	$	—	$	21,297		$	—	$	—	$	—	$	(5,806	)
Interest Rate Derivatives - Settlements	—		(30		)	—		—		—		(167		)

The following table (in thousands) shows the changes in the fair value and settlements of our Interest Rate Derivatives—Not Designated recorded in derivative gain (loss), net on our Consolidated Statements of Operations during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014 and 2013:



	Three Months Ended September 30,					Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2014		2013			2014			2013
Interest Rate Derivatives - Not Designated	$	5,379	$	(22,481	)	$	(89,222	)	$	60,707

Balance Sheet Presentation

Our commodity and interest rate derivatives are presented on a net basis on our Consolidated Balance Sheets as described above. The following table (in thousands) shows the fair value of our derivatives outstanding on a gross and net basis:



	Gross Amounts Recognized			Gross Amounts Offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets			Net Amounts Presented in the Consolidated Balance Sheets			Gross Amounts Not Offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets
Offsetting Derivative Assets (Liabilities)	Gross Amounts Recognized			Gross Amounts Offset in the Consolidated Balance Sheets			Net Amounts Presented in the Consolidated Balance Sheets			Derivative Instrument		Cash Collateral Received (Paid)		Net Amount
As of September 30, 2014:
LNG Inventory Derivatives	$	(218	)	$	(218	)	$	—		$	—	$	—	$	—
Interest Rate Derivatives - Not Designated	15,059			—			15,059			—		—		15,059
As of December 31, 2013:
LNG Inventory Derivatives	(161		)	(161		)	—			—		—		—
Fuel Derivatives	27			—			27			—		—		27
Interest Rate Derivatives - Not Designated	98,123			—			98,123			—		—		98,123
Interest Rate Derivatives - Not Designated	(13,484		)	—			(13,484		)	—		—		(13,484		)

Other Financial Instruments

The estimated fair value of our other financial instruments, including those financial instruments for which the fair value option was not elected are set forth in the table below. The carrying amounts reported on our Consolidated Balance Sheets for cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, interest receivable and accounts payable approximate fair value due to their short-term nature.

The following table (in thousands) shows the carrying amount and estimated fair value of our other financial instruments:



	September 30, 2014				December 31, 2013
	Carrying Amount		Estimated Fair Value		Carrying Amount		Estimated Fair Value
2016 Sabine Pass LNG Senior Notes, net of discount (1)	$	1,655,328	$	1,750,510	$	1,651,807	$	1,868,607
2020 Sabine Pass LNG Senior Notes (1)	420,000		432,600		420,000		432,600
2021 Sabine Pass Liquefaction Senior Notes, net of premium (1)	2,010,530		2,045,714		2,011,562		1,961,273
2022 Sabine Pass Liquefaction Senior Notes (1)	1,000,000		1,042,500		1,000,000		982,500
2023 Sabine Pass Liquefaction Senior Notes, net of premium (1)	1,507,257		1,507,257		1,000,000		935,000
2024 Sabine Pass Liquefaction Senior Notes (1)	2,000,000		2,010,000		—		—
2013 Liquefaction Credit Facilities (2)	—		—		100,000		100,000
CTPL Credit Facility, net of discount (3)	396,645		400,000		392,904		400,000


(1)	The Level 2 estimated fair value was based on quotations obtained from broker-dealers who make markets in these and similar instruments based on the closing trading prices on September 30, 2014 and December 31, 2013, as applicable.


(2)	The Level 3 estimated fair value approximated the carrying amount because the interest rates were variable and reflective of market rates and Sabine Pass Liquefaction had the ability to call this debt at any time without penalty.


(3)	The Level 3 estimated fair value approximates the principal amount because the interest rates are variable and reflective of market rates and CTPL has the ability to call this debt at any time without penalty.