|
Deferred Revenue
|
12 Months Ended |
|---|---|
|
Dec. 31, 2011
|
|
| Deferred Revenue [Abstract] | |
| Deferred Revenue Disclosure [Text Block] |
DEFERRED REVENUE
Advance Capacity Reservation Fee
In November 2004, Total Gas and Power North America, Inc. ("Total") paid Sabine Pass LNG a nonrefundable advance capacity reservation fee of $10.0 million in connection with the reservation of approximately 1.0 Bcf/d of LNG regasification capacity at the Sabine Pass LNG terminal. An additional advance capacity reservation fee payment of $10.0 million was paid by Total to Sabine Pass LNG in April 2005. The advance capacity reservation fee payments are being amortized as a reduction of Total’s regasification capacity reservation fee under its TUA over a 10-year period beginning with the commencement of its TUA on April 1, 2009. As a result, we recorded the advance capacity reservation fee payments that Sabine Pass LNG received, although non-refundable, as deferred revenue to be amortized to income over the corresponding 10-year period.
In November 2004, Sabine Pass LNG also entered into a TUA to provide Chevron U.S.A. Inc. ("Chevron") with approximately 0.7 Bcf/d of LNG regasification capacity at the Sabine Pass LNG terminal. In December 2005, Chevron exercised its option to increase its reserved capacity by approximately 0.3 Bcf/d to approximately 1.0 Bcf/d, making advance capacity reservation fee payments to Sabine Pass LNG totaling $20.0 million. The advance capacity reservation fee payments are being amortized as a reduction of Chevron’s regasification capacity reservation fee under its TUA over a 10-year period beginning with the commencement of its TUA on July 1, 2009. As a result, we recorded the advance capacity reservation fee payments that Sabine Pass LNG received, although non-refundable, as deferred revenue to be amortized to income over the corresponding 10-year period.
As of December 31, 2011, we had recorded $4.0 million and $25.5 million as current and non-current deferred revenue on our Consolidated Balance Sheets, respectively, related to the Total and Chevron advance capacity reservation fees. As of December 31, 2010, we had recorded $4.0 million and $29.5 million as current and non-current deferred revenue on our Consolidated Balance Sheets, respectively, related to the Total and Chevron advance capacity reservation fees.
TUA Payments
Following the achievement of commercial operability of the Sabine Pass LNG terminal in September 2008, Sabine Pass LNG began receiving capacity reservation fee payments from Cheniere Marketing under its TUA. As of December 31, 2009, we had recorded $62.7 million as current deferred revenue—affiliate related to Cheniere Marketing's quarterly advance capacity reservation fee payments. Effective July 1, 2010, Cheniere Marketing assigned its existing TUA with Sabine Pass LNG to Cheniere Investments, including all of its rights, titles, interests, obligations and liabilities in and under the TUA. After the assignment of the TUA from Cheniere Marketing to Cheniere Investments, Cheniere Investments began making its TUA payments on a monthly basis. However, the revenue earned by Sabine Pass LNG from Cheniere Investments' capacity payments under the TUA is eliminated upon consolidation of our financial statements. As a result, we have zero current deferred revenue—affiliate related to Cheniere Investments' monthly advance capacity reservation fee payment as of December 31, 2011 and 2010.
Total and Chevron are obligated to make monthly TUA payments to Sabine Pass LNG in advance of the month of service. These monthly payments are recorded to current deferred revenue in the period cash is received and are then recorded as revenue in the next month when the TUA service is performed. As of December 31, 2011 and 2010, we had recorded $21.1 million and $21.0 million, respectively, as current deferred revenue on our Consolidated Balance Sheets related to Total's and Chevron's monthly TUA payments.
Cooperative Endeavor Agreements
In July 2007, Sabine Pass LNG executed Cooperative Endeavor Agreements ("CEAs") with various Cameron Parish, Louisiana taxing authorities that allow them to accelerate certain of its property tax payments scheduled to begin in 2019. This ten-year initiative represents an aggregate $25.0 million commitment, and will make resources available to the Cameron Parish taxing authorities on an accelerated basis in order to aid in their reconstruction efforts following Hurricane Rita. In exchange for Sabine Pass LNG’s advance payments of ad valorem taxes, Cameron Parish will grant Sabine Pass LNG a dollar for dollar credit against future ad valorem taxes to be levied against its LNG terminal starting in 2019. In September 2007, Sabine Pass LNG entered into an agreement with Cheniere Marketing, pursuant to which Cheniere Marketing will advance it any and all amounts payable under the CEAs in exchange for a similar amount of credits against future ad valorem reimbursements it would owe to Sabine Pass LNG under its TUA starting in 2019. These advance ad valorem tax payments were recorded to other assets, and payments from Cheniere Marketing that Sabine Pass LNG utilized to make the early payment of taxes were recorded as deferred revenue. As of December 31, 2011 and 2010, we had $12.3 million and $9.8 million, respectively, of other non-current assets and non-current deferred revenue resulting from accelerated ad valorem tax payments.
|