A unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway will increase its stake in the Cove Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Maryland following the signing of a $3.3 billion deal with Dominion Energy.
Dominion agreed to sell its 50 percent noncontrolling limited partner interest in Cove Point LNG, to Berkshire Hathaway Energy, which currently operates the facility and owns a 100 percent general partner and 25 percent limited partner interest.
Upon closing, Berkshire Hathaway Energy said it would own a 75 percent limited partnership stake in Cove Point LNG, while a subsidiary of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners holds the remaining 25 percent limited partnership interest in Cove Point LNG.
The purchased interest will be held within BHE GT&S, a Berkshire Hathaway Energy business unit, it said.
According to Berkshire Hathaway, the $3.3 billion transaction will be funded with cash on hand including cash realized from the liquidation of certain investments.
Dominion said in a separate statement it expects to receive about $200 million from the termination of interest-rate derivatives.
Last year, the Cove Point LNG plant shipped its 300th cargo since it started commercial liquefaction operations in April 2018.
It consists of an LNG import and export terminal in Calvert County, Maryland, and associated pipeline facilities.
The plant has a storage capacity of 14.6 billion cubic feet and a daily sendout capacity of 1.8 bcf, or about 5.25 million tons of LNG per year coming from one liquefaction unit.
Cove Point LNG also plans to add a single small liquefaction unit to liquefy boil off gas (BOG) to satisfy the increased LNG customer market demand.
