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)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2014

Financial Instruments [Abstract]

Fair Value Disclosures [Text Block]

FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

Derivative Instruments

We have entered into certain instruments to hedge the exposure to variability in expected future cash flows attributable to the future sale of our LNG inventory ("LNG Inventory Derivatives") and 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"). We have also entered into 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 March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, which are classified as prepaid expenses and other, non-current derivative assets and other current liabilities in our Consolidated Balance Sheets.



	Fair Value Measurements as of
	March 31, 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 asset (liability)	$	—	$	35	$	—	$	35	$	—	$	(161	)	$	—	$	(161	)
Fuel Derivatives asset	—		19		—		19		—		27			—		27
Interest Rate Derivatives asset	—		51,626		—		51,626		—		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. 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 derivative instruments that qualify for derivative accounting treatment as either assets or liabilities and measure those instruments at fair value unless they qualify for, and we elect, the normal purchase normal sale exemption. For transactions in which we have elected the normal purchase normal sale exemption, 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 $0.5 million and $0.9 million deposited for such contracts, which has not been reflected in the derivative fair value tables, is included in the other current assets balance as of March 31, 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 March 31, 2014.

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	March 31, 2014		December 31, 2013
LNG Inventory Derivatives asset (liability)	Prepaid expenses and other	$	35	$	(161	)
Fuel Derivatives asset	Prepaid expenses and other	19		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 months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013:



	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2014			2013
LNG Inventory Derivatives loss	$	(29	)	$	(550	)

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 loss, net on our Consolidated Statements of Operations during the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013:



	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2014			2013
LNG Inventory Derivatives loss	$	(435	)	$	—
Fuel Derivatives gain (1)	242			515

(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 exemption from derivative accounting.

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.

At March 31, 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

2.9

billion

August 14, 2012

July 31, 2019

1.98%

One-month LIBOR

Interest Rate Derivatives - Not Designated

—

671.0

million

June 5, 2013

May 28, 2020

2.05%

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	March 31, 2014			December 31, 2013
Interest Rate Derivatives - Not Designated	Non-current derivative assets	$	71,170		$	98,123
Interest Rate Derivatives - Not Designated	Other current liabilities	(19,544		)	(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 three months ended March 31, 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		$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—
Interest Rate Derivatives - Settlements	—		(30		)	—		—		—		—

The following table (in thousands) shows the changes in the fair value and settlements of our Interest Rate Derivatives—Not Designated recorded in derivative loss, net on our Consolidated Statements of Operations during the three months ended March 31, 2014 and 2013:



	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2014			2013
Interest Rate Derivatives - Not Designated	$	(34,479	)	$	(17,983	)

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)											Derivative Instrument		Cash Collateral Received (Paid)		Net Amount
As of March 31, 2014:
Fuel Derivatives	$	19			$	—		$	19		$	—	$	—	$	19
LNG Inventory Derivatives	35				7			28			—		—		28
Interest Rate Derivatives - Not Designated	71,170				—			71,170			—		—		71,170
Interest Rate Derivatives - Not Designated	(19,544		)		—			(19,544		)	—		—		(19,544		)
As of December 31, 2013:				—
Fuel Derivatives	27				—			27			—		—		27
LNG Inventory Derivatives	(161		)		(161		)	—			—		—		—
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:



	March 31, 2014				December 31, 2013
	Carrying Amount		Estimated Fair Value		Carrying Amount		Estimated Fair Value
2016 Notes, net of discount (1)	$	1,652,981	$	1,824,478	$	1,651,807	$	1,868,607
2020 Notes (1)	420,000		441,000		420,000		432,600
2021 Sabine Pass Liquefaction Senior Notes (1)	2,011,222		2,079,101		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 (1)	1,000,000		997,500		1,000,000		935,000
2013 Liquefaction Credit Facilities (2)	100,000		100,000		100,000		100,000
CTPL Credit Facility (3)	394,147		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 March 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013, as applicable.


(2)	The Level 3 estimated fair value approximates the carrying amount because the interest rates are variable and reflective of market rates and Sabine Pass Liquefaction has 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.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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