The U.S. is about to export shale gas for the first time, with a shipment setting sail for Brazil.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil’s state-owned energy giant, is scheduled to receive the first cargo of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG), Bloomberg reported. The Brazilian company reached an agreement Monday with Cheniere Energy Inc., a Houston energy company, according to a Bloomberg source who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t yet public.

Cheniere Energy began loading the first tanker of LNG at its hulking Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana. The $18 billion plant, which rises from the coastal marsh like a futuristic city, began production Dec. 30. Cheniere Energy now receives about 50 million cubic feet of shale gas per day, chilling the fuel into a clear, colorless liquid stored in refrigerated tankers.

“The biggest buyer of LNG outside of the winter is Brazil first and Argentina second in the Atlantic Basin," Ted Michael, an analyst for energy data provider Genscape Inc., told Bloomberg. “They buy LNG for gas-powered, air-conditioned power."

Cheniere shares (NYSEMKT:LNG) rose 10 percent Wednesday to $33.57, the same day the Standard & Poor's 500 rose 0.4 percent.