Cheniere to Sell US Gas to India.

(AP)  NEW YORK — Cheniere Energy Partners L.P. plans to export U.S. natural gas to India from a terminal it is building in Louisiana.

Cheniere, based in Houston, announced Sunday that India's GAIL Ltd. will buy 3.5 million tons per year of liquefied natural gas. The gas will be pumped from U.S. fields, turned into liquid form and then loaded onto cargo vessels destined for India. The deliveries will begin in 2016.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Cheniere plans to be the first company to export natural gas from the continental U.S. The company has announced two other export contracts since October: one with a subsidiary of Spain's Gas Natural Fenosa and another with a subsidiary of Britain's BG Group PLC.

Natural gas exports will reduce hefty U.S. supplies that have weighed down prices for the past few years. Supplies are nearly 9 percent higher than their five-year average, thanks to a rush by petroleum companies to develop new wells in underground layers of shale.

At about $3.25 per 1,000 cubic feet, natural gas fetches less than half of what it did in 2008.

Cheniere shares rose 46 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $16.68 in afternoon trading. Its parent, Cheniere Energy Inc. rose 42 cents, or 4.4 percent, to $9.94.

Source : cbsnews.com