Sempra’s Port Arthur LNG seeks approval for cooldown cargoes

Port Arthur LNG, a joint venture of Sempra, ConocoPhillips, KKR Pinnacle Investor, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, submitted an application on May 5 seeking authorization to export previously imported LNG.

The JV seeks to export up to a total of 20 billion cubic feet (Bcf), on a cumulative basis, of previously imported, foreign-sourced LNG from the LNG terminal in Jefferson County, Texas, on a short-term or spot-market basis.

Prior to commencing commercial operations, Port Arthur LNG intends to use cooldown cargoes with imported LNG to pre-cool its liquefaction facilities during start-up.

Port Arthur LNG explained that this start-up process does not consume LNG, it only uses cold LNG to absorb process heat.

After the imported LNG completes the cooling process, Port Arthur LNG will re-export the LNG volumes.

Port Arthur LNG requests this authorization for a two-year period commencing as early as practicable, but no later than October 1, 2026, it said.

Launch of first train in 2027

In March 2023, Sempra Infrastructure, in which Sempra is reducing its ownership to 25 percent, took a final investment decision on the first phase of its Port Arthur LNG export project worth about $13 billion.

Bechtel won the $10.5 billion EPC contract, which includes building two trains with a total capacity of about 13 mtpa and two storage tanks with a capacity of 160,000 cbm.

The expected commercial operation dates for train 1 and train 2 are 2027 and 2028, respectively.

In addition, Sempra Infrastructure took FID on the second phase of the Port Arthur LNG project last year.

Including the first 13 mtpa phase, the facility will have a total capacity of about 26 mtpa.

The expected commercial operation dates for Train 3 and Train 4 are 2030 and 2031, respectively.