The US Department of Energy (DOE) has granted Energía Costa Azul (ECA) LNG two permits to export gas produced in the United States to its planned liquefaction plant in Ensenada (Baja California, Mexico) and to re-export the produced LNG to countries that do not have a free-trade agreement (non-FTA) with the United States.
Energia Costa Azul LNG is a fully-owned project of US energy group Sempra, which aims to add liquefaction capacities to its existing 10.3 bcm/year LNG import and regasification terminal in Ensenada. The LNG export terminal would be developed in two phases, with a first phase of 2.4 Mt/year (3.2 bcm/year) expected in 2023 and another phase of 12 Mt/year (16.2 bcm/year) expected later on.
In November 2018, Sempra announced that it had signed three Heads of Agreements (HOAs) with affiliates of Total, Mitsui and Tokyo Gas for 0.8 Mt/year each, i.e. the full export capacity of the first phase of the Energia Costa Azul LNG project. However, to develop the project, Sempra still has to obtain binding customer commitments, complete the required commercial agreements, secure all necessary permits, including additional export authorization from the Mexican and US governments, obtain financing, incentives and other factors, and reach a final investment decision.
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