Cheniere Energy Inc

The following table summarizes the sources and uses of our cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash and cash equivalents (in millions). The table presents capital expenditures on a cash basis; therefore, these amounts differ from the amounts of capital expenditures, including accruals, which are referred to elsewhere in this report. Additional discussion of these items follows the table.

Operating Cash Flows

The $2.9 billion decrease between the periods was primarily related to lower cash receipts from the sale of LNG cargoes due to a reduction in both pricing per MMBtu and volumes sold under short-term agreements, although this exposed us less to declining international LNG and gas prices in the current year as a higher proportion of our LNG was sold under long-term agreements. The decrease was partially offset by lower cash outflows for natural gas feedstock, mostly due to lower U.S. natural gas prices.

We became subject to the 15% CAMT beginning in 2024 and expect to owe CAMT in excess of our regular tax liability. During 2024, the Internal Revenue Service (the“IRS”) issued a series of notices that extended the due date of our second, third and fourth estimated tax payments of our regular tax and CAMT liability from 2024 to February 3, 2025 and April 15, 2025, respectively. On September 12, 2024, the U.S. Department of Treasury and the IRS released proposed regulations relating to the application and implementation of the CAMT. For a discussion of the CAMT as originally enacted, including its potential impacts to our liquidity position, see the risk factors and liquidity and capital resource disclosures in ourannual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023. Although not required, the proposed regulations permit early adoption and taxpayers can generally choose to rely on the proposed regulations, either fully or partially in some cases, for tax years ending before, on or after September 13, 2024, if consistently applied. The proposed regulations address a wide range of topics relating to the operation of CAMT; however, significant uncertainty continues to exist regarding many of the operative implementing provisions. Importantly, however, the rules clarify that unrealized derivative gains and losses arising from ordinary course transactions aimed at managing price, interest or currency risk should generally be excluded from the CAMT base until realized. Thus, although the proposed regulations are a potentially favorable development that has the potential to mitigate cash tax volatility attributable to changes in fair value of our derivative instruments in the future, our assessment of the proposed CAMT rules across our portfolio of derivative instruments is ongoing and we continue to evaluate its impact to us, including the three transition-year methods discussed in the preamble to the proposed rules which are under consideration for adoption and which could cause our CAMT liability to significantly increase depending on ultimate adoption in the final regulations.

Investing Cash Flows

Our investing net cash outflows in both periods primarily were for the construction costs for the Corpus Christi Stage 3 Project, which were $1.3 billion during the nine months ended September 30, 2024 compared to $1.0 billion in the comparable period of 2023, as well as for optimization and other site improvement projects. We expect to incur a proportional level of capital expenditures for the remainder of the year as construction work progresses on the Corpus Christi Stage 3 Project.

Financing Cash Flows

The following table summarizes our financing activities (in millions):

Debt Issuances

The following table shows our debt issuances (in millions):

Debt Redemptions, Repayments and Repurchases

The following table shows the redemptions, repayments and repurchases of debt, including intra-quarter repayments (in millions):

Repurchase of Common Stock

During the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, we paid $2.0 billion and $1.1 billion to repurchase 12.2 million and 7.6 million shares of our common stock, respectively, under our share repurchase program. As of September 30, 2024, we had approximately $4.2 billion remaining under our share repurchase program.

Cash Dividends to Stockholders

During the nine months ended September 30, 2024, we paid aggregate dividends of $1.305 per share of common stock, for a total of $300 million. We paid aggregate dividends of $1.185 per share of common stock for a total of $291 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2023.

On October 29, 2024, we declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share of common stock that is payable on November 18, 2024 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on November 8, 2024.