US energy giant ConocoPhillips has signed a preliminary deal with compatriot Sempra Infrastructure, a unit of Sempra, to buy a stake in the planned 13.5 mtpa Port Arthur liquefaction project in Texas.
Under the non-binding heads of agreement, ConocoPhillips plans to buy a 30 percent direct equity holding in Port Arthur Liquefaction Holdings and an LNG offtake equivalent to about 5 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) from the Port Arthur LNG project.
According to a statement by ConocoPhillips, the firm will supply the gas for its 5 Mtpa offtake and may provide additional gas supply services to the Port Arthur LNG facility.
In addition, ConocoPhillips would have the option to acquire certain LNG offtake and equity ownership from future contemplated trains at the Port Arthur LNG site, where a similarly sized Phase 2 project is also under development, it said.
The companies would also evaluate development of low-carbon projects, including a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project for the Port Arthur LNG facility.
Sempra Infrastructure would have the opportunity to participate in carbon capture and sequestration projects developed by ConocoPhillips in Texas or Louisiana in connection with the Port Arthur LNG project.
With this move and the recent deal for a stake in QatarEnergy’s $28.75 billion North Field East (NFE) expansion project, ConocoPhillips will significantly boost its global LNG business.
Earlier this year, ConocoPhillips also completed the purchase of an additional 10 percent shareholding interest in the Australia Pacific LNG export project.
“Important milestone” for Port Arthur LNG
Sempra said in separate statement that this deal with ConocoPhillips marks an “important milestone” with the substantial completion of the marketing phase of Phase 1 of the Port Arthur LNG project.
Prior to this HOA, Sempra signed deals with German energy firm RWE, UK’s Ineos, and Poland’s dominant gas firm and LNG importer, PGNiG, for volumes from the first phase of the LNG project.
Including this newest deal with ConocoPhillips, these HOAs total 9.65 Mtpa to 11.65 Mtpa of LNG from the first phase of the development.
ECA LNG expansion
Besides Porth Artur LNG, the two firms plan to work on the expansion of the ECA LNG export development project in Baja California, Mexico.
Sempra took FID on ECA LNG Phase 1 in November 2020. The $2 billion project includes one train with a capacity of about 3.25 mtpa.
The firm is looking to build the second phase of this project with a capacity of up to 12 mtpa.
According to Sempra, the new HOA provides for collaboration between the two companies for LNG offtake, natural gas supply and equity investment for Phase 2 of the ECA LNG export development project.
This includes up to one-third of the exported LNG volumes, the firm said.
