Cameron LNG project makes progress

The total project cost is an estimated US$10bn, including contribution of the existing Cameron LNG facilities, construction of the new facilities and financing cost. The financing commitments for the project total US$7.4bn and will be provided by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) and a group of 29 commercial banks.

“This represents one of the largest project financings in the US. Today’s commitments from our project sponsors and international banks put us one step closer to delivering domestic natural gas to America’s trading partners in Europe and Japan,” said Octavio MC Simoes, president, Sempra LNG.

The three-train natural gas liquefaction facilities will have an export capability of 12 million tonnes per annum of LNG, or around 1.7 billion cubic feet per day.

Earlier this year, Sempra Energy’s Cameron LNG received authorisation from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to site, construct and operate the liquefaction facilities and was awarded conditional authorisation from the US Department of Energy to export LNG to non-free-trade-agreement (non-FTA) countries, including Japan and European nations. A final authorisation from DOE is expected later this year.

Construction on the project is due to begin later this year, with all three train expected to begin operations during 2018, with the first full year of operations in 2019.