With a federal approval in hand for its Cameron, LA, liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal, Sempra Energy this week turns its attention to its ongoing negotiations with a variety of supply sources.

Environmental mitigation at the 118.6-acre site and more than 450 surrounding acres looks like it is well taken care of, according to the summary of last Wednesday’s federal approvals. “Based on our analysis of alternative LNG terminal sites, we did not identify any reasonable site alternatives that would be environmentally preferable to the proposed site,” the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission concluded in its order approving the LNG import project. It noted that the analysis of alternative sites also included an assessment of existing pipeline systems that could be used to reduce the length of the proposed 35-mile pipeline for the Hackberry LNG project at Cameron.

On the impending question of supplies for both the Louisiana plant, which is focused on Atlantic-side sources, and North Baja, which is Pacific Basin-focused, Sempra officials said last Thursday they hope to have a definitive agreement in place by the end of this year. In the meantime Sempra quietly let a “memorandum of agreement” for supplies from land-locked Bolivia in South America expire earlier in the year, although a San Diego-based company spokesperson said the company continues to talk with those sources, too. (That was a potential source for the Baja Costa Azul proposed receiving terminal site.)

Speculation in late August also peaked when a similar “memorandum” pre-contract deal with Indonesian LNG sources was garnered by Sempra. That source, too, is targeted for the Baja site as opposed to the Gulf of Mexico-linked site in Louisiana. “A sales agreement has not been signed yet,” said the Sempra spokesperson, who said the MOU has just allowed further discussions with the Indonesians to take place.

“We won’t go into any details (on ongoing talks) until a we have a public announcement that a sales agreement is in place,” the spokesperson said.

Located in the Calcasieu Ship Channel that is part of the river by the same name, the Cameron facilities will include: two ship berths, each with three LNG unloading arms and one vapor return arm to feed three onshore LNG storage tanks, which will each hold the equivalent of 3.5 BCF volumes of gas. These facilities will be combined with extensive pumps, vaporization, condensing, circulation, natural gas liquid recovery and ancillary utility systems — all to be connected via a 35.4-mile, 36-inch-diameter natural gas pipeline to the nation’s interstate pipeline network.

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