“This is somebody who basically enjoys being on a roller coaster,” said Fadel Gheit, a senior oil analyst at Oppenheimer & Company. “It is more likely to see snow in New York in July than to see exports of gas from L.N.G. terminals in the United States.”

But gas producers desperately looking for ways to raise prices view Mr. Souki as a hero, and enough investors like his ideas to reward Cheniere’s stock with a modest rebound. Shares closed at $6.62 on Thursday.

“You have to have self-confidence to be out there alone when most people say you are wrong,” said Aubrey K. McClendon, chief executive of the Chesapeake Energy Corporation, the second-biggest domestic gas producer, who has pledged large shipments for Cheniere to export. “He’s going to be successful and it’s going to be great news for the U.S.”

When Mr. Souki set out to build at least three liquefied natural gas import terminals, bankers were so skeptical initially that he was forced to borrow $30,000 from Cheniere’s president to meet payroll. The company persevered, but Mr. Souki had to settle for one terminal.

Over time, Sempra Energy and Exxon Mobil also bought into the idea of building terminals on the gulf, and Chevron and Total signed 20-year agreements guaranteeing Cheniere payments of more than $250 million a year for use of half the Louisiana terminal capacity.

The other half was intended to give Cheniere the opportunity to trade gas on the spot market.

But new drilling techniques opened up vast shale rock fields to gas prospecting over the last few years, bolstering domestic production and adding a century or more of reserves.