Sempra Energy continues to actively seek long-term supply deals that will allow it to begin construction of its proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal on part of the 2,900 acres it owns at Port Arthur, TX. But currently there is nothing to announce in regard to a pending contract(s), a San Diego-based Sempra spokesperson told NGI Wednesday.

In the meantime, Sempra announced Wednesday that it will try to use part of the site — about 120 acres — for an oil products storage and transportation import/export facility if the company receives sufficient interest from an open season it announced to run through Feb.15.

Last year Sempra senior management during a quarterly earnings conference call characterized their plans for the Port Arthur LNG facility as being on hold, given the lack of contracts specifically for the proposed facility and the global slowdown in the development of new liquefaction capacity in the major natural gas supply areas of the world (see Power Market Today, May 3, 2007).

For several years Port Arthur has been targeted by Sempra as its site for a third North American-based LNG import facility and its second in the Gulf of Mexico region. Another LNG facility is nearly 70% complete at Cameron, LA, and should open later this year.

More imminent is Sempra’s Costa Azul LNG terminal along the Pacific Coast in North Baja California, Mexico. It is slated to open later in the first quarter although the bulk of its first shipments may come later. That facility is currently 94% completed, according to Sempra’s spokesperson.

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