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DOE noted in a statement on Thursday that the final authorization for LNG exports to non-free trade agreement (non-FTA) countries from Port Arthur LNG Phase II follows the recent response to comments on the 2024 LNG export study.
“This is the first final LNG export approval under President Trump’s leadership and marks another step in restoring regular order to LNG export permitting–reversing the previous administration’s pause and delivering on the President’s pledge to unleash American energy,” DOE said.
Sempra said in a separate statement that this is a “major regulatory milestone” for the proposed Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 project.
“Today’s regulatory approval marks another milestone for the proposed Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 development project, as we make steady progress towards reaching a final investment decision,” said Justin Bird, chief executive officer of Sempra Infrastructure.
Sempra Infrastructure recently confirmed that it still expects to make a final investment decision on the second phase of its Port Arthur LNG export project in 2025.
US engineering and construction giant Bechtel is currently building the first phase of the Port Arthur LNG export terminal with a capacity of some 13 mtpa under an EPC deal worth about $10.5 billion.
The expected commercial operation dates for train 1 and train 2 are 2027 and 2028, respectively.
The development of the proposed second phase would increase the total liquefaction capacity of the facility to about 26 mtpa.
In 2023, Sempra Infrastructure received approval from the US FERC for the proposed Phase 2 project and also secured approval from the DOE for the FTA.
Sempra Infrastructure and a subsidiary of Aramco signed a non-binding heads of agreement contemplating both a long-term LNG offtake agreement and an equity investment in the Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 project in June last year.
In addition, Sempra Infrastructure announced last year that Bechtel had been selected for a fixed-price engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the project.
Sempra stated in the non-FTA announcement that future phases of the Port Arthur LNG export project are also in the early development stage.
The firm did not provide further details.