As a result of these and other factors, LNG may not be a competitive source of energy in the United States or internationally. The failure of LNG to be a competitive supply alternative to local natural gas, oil and other alternative energy sources in markets accessible to our customers could adversely affect the ability of our customers to deliver LNG from the United States or to the United States on a commercial basis. Any significant impediment to the ability to deliver LNG to or from the United States generally, or to the Sabine Pass LNG terminal or from the SPL Project and the CCL Project specifically, could have a material adverse effect on our customers and on our business, contracts, financial condition, operating results, cash flow, liquidity and prospects. In addition to natural gas, LNG also competes with other sources of energy, including coal, oil, nuclear, hydroelectric, wind and solar energy. LNG from the SPL Project  and the CCL Project  also competes with other sources of LNG, including LNG that is priced to indices other than Henry Hub. Some of these sources of energy may be available at a lower cost than LNG from the SPL Project  and the CCL Project  in certain markets. The cost of LNG supplies from the United States, including the SPL Project  and the CCL Project , may also be impacted by an increase in natural gas prices in the United States. Commercial development of an LNG facility takes a number of years, requires a substantial capital investment and may be delayed by factors such as: Various economic and political factors could negatively affect the development, construction and operation of LNG facilities, including the SPL Project, the CCL Project and expansion projects, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, contracts, financial condition, operating results, cash flow, liquidity and prospects. • increased construction costs; • economic downturns, increases in interest rates or other events that may affect the availability of sufficient financing for LNG projects on commercially reasonable terms; • decreases in the price of LNG, which might decrease the expected returns relating to investments in LNG projects; • the inability of project owners or operators to obtain governmental approvals to construct or operate LNG facilities; • political unrest or local community resistance to the siting of LNG facilities due to safety, environmental or security concerns; and • any significant explosion, spill or similar incident involving an LNG facility or LNG vessel. There may be shortages of LNG vessels worldwide, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, contracts, financial condition, operating results, cash flow, liquidity and prospects. The construction and delivery of LNG vessels require significant capital and long construction lead times, and the availability of the vessels could be delayed to the detriment of our business and our customers because of: • an inadequate number of shipyards constructing LNG vessels and a backlog of orders at these shipyards; • political or economic disturbances in the countries where the vessels are being constructed; • changes in governmental regulations or maritime self-regulatory organizations; • work stoppages or other labor disturbances at the shipyards; • bankruptcy or other financial crisis of shipbuilders; • quality or engineering problems; • weather interference or a catastrophic event, such as a major earthquake, tsunami or fire; and • shortages of or delays in the receipt of necessary construction materials. We may not be able to secure firm pipeline transportation capacity on economic terms that is sufficient to meet our feed gas transportation requirements, which could have a material adverse effect on us. We have contracted for firm capacity for our natural gas feedstock transportation requirements for Trains 1 through 5 of the SPL Project and Trains 1 through 3 of the CCL Project. We cannot control the regulatory and permitting approvals or third parties’ construction times. If and when we need to replace one or more of our agreements with these interconnecting pipelines, we may 27