Port Arthur Pipeline seeks interest in additional 1.15 Bcf/d gas capacity in US

Houston — Sempra Energy has launched an open season for an additional 1.15 Bcf/d of firm incremental capacity that may be made available on a segment of a pipeline that would feed gas to its proposed Port Arthur LNG export terminal in Texas. The shipper solicitation, which began Sept. 16, runs through Sept. 30.

The Port Arthur Pipeline Texas Connector project calls for two segments of the 42-inch diameter pipeline.

The 7.6-mile Texas Connector South segment would extend from the liquefaction terminal to interconnections with interstate pipelines in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.

The 26.6-mile Texas Connector North segment would extend from the terminal to interconnections with Houston Pipeline Company, Texas Eastern Transmission, and Florida Gas Transmission, as well as underground storage facilities in Jefferson County, Texas.

According to Sempra, the full 1.9 Bcf/d capacity of the Texas Connector project has been subscribed. However, due to changes in upstream interconnections and flow assumptions, it is anticipated that an additional 1.15 Bcf/d of capacity may be made available on the Texas Connector North segment, Sempra said in a statement.

Demand for the capacity that has already been subscribed is largely dependent on the construction of the LNG terminal.

In May, Sempra delayed until 2021 a final investment decision on whether to build the proposed 11 million mt/year liquefaction facility. The postponement came amid challenges developers have faced in securing sufficient commercial agreements with buyers of US supplies. Those challenges have been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Sempra is the operator and majority owner of the three-train Cameron LNG export terminal in Louisiana.

It also has proposed building liquefaction facilities at its Energia Costa Azul import facility in Mexico. That project, while it finalized two offtake deals that support the full capacity of the terminal's first phase, has yet to take FID amid delays receiving export authorization from the Mexican government.