Scorned by Icahn, Executive Maps New Way to Fund LNG Exports
- Souki’s Tellurian to limit debt financing on Driftwood plant
- Investor pitch includes buying up production fields, pipelines
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After amassing billions in debt and pushing a bold spending plan, Charif Souki was fired in 2015 by the liquefied natural gas company he founded. Now heading a new company, he’s changing his plan of attack.
Souki’s latest idea is to mostly deal debt out of the picture. The company he chairs, Tellurian Inc., is seeking investors to pay a total of $12 billion up front to fund the proposed Driftwood LNG export terminal in Louisiana. In return, they get a stake in the project and the ability to buy fuel at cost moving forward, with no markup based on a changing marketplace.