SEMPRA DELAYS TEXAS LNG DECISION UNTIL 2021

Global pandemic lowers demand for liquefied natural gas

Executives at San Diegobased Sempra Energy remain bullish on making significant investments in exporting liquefied natural gas, or LNG, to foreign markets, but the global economic downturn caused by the coronavirus has led them to postpone making a final decision on building a project on the Texas Gulf Coast until next year.

Before the pandemic, Sempra officials had planned on making the call on the proposed Port Arthur LNG project around the middle of this year but on an earnings call Monday, the company said a decision will now be made sometime in 2021.

“Yes, Port Arthur is slipping a little bit” given the current market environment, Sempra CEO Jeff Martin said.

The global demand for LNG has declined as countries normally hungry for shipments of natural gas have seen their economies contract amid stay-at-home orders aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.

Sitting on nearly 3,000 acres of land along 3 miles of the Sabine-neches waterway, Port Arthur LNG has the potential to become one of the largest LNG export projects in North America.

Sempra has already lined up provisional contracts with Saudi Aramco and Poland’s natural gas company that, combined, would take more than 7 million metric tons from Port Arthur, should the facility get built. The CEO of Sempra’s LNG division, Justin Bird, said the company is working with Aramco and Polish authorities “as to the optimal tim

•