Sempra has made two announcements in the past week relating to new offtake agreements from the planned second phase of the Port Arthur LNG project in Texas.

Under the first deal, announced on August 21, the company’s Sempra Infrastructure subsidiary agreed to supply 4mn tonnes per year (tpy) of LNG to ConocoPhillips. Under the second, announced on August 27, Sempra Infrastructure agreed to supply 2mn tpy from Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 to EQT. Both sale and purchase agreements (SPAs) have a term of 20 years.

The first deal represents an extension of the existing partnership between Sempra and ConocoPhillips on Port Arthur LNG Phase 1, which is currently under construction. ConocoPhillips holds a 30% equity stake in Phase 1 and has secured 5mn tpy in offtake capacity from the project over a 20-year period.

Phase 1 of Port Arthur consists of two liquefaction trains with a combined capacity of 13mn tpy of LNG, which are expected to begin commercial operations in 2027 and 2028. Phase 2 would add a further 13mn tpy of capacity through the construction of a further two trains, bringing the entire facility’s liquefaction capacity to 26mn tpy. Sempra noted in its announcements that all major permits for Phase 2 have been secured and that Bechtel – the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for Phase 1 – has also been selected to carry out the EPC work on Phase 2. A final investment decision (FID) on Phase 2 is being targeted for later this year.

Meanwhile, the offtake agreement with EQT is noteworthy because that company is a leading US producer of natural gas and has agreements in place to supply feed gas to other LNG projects on the Gulf Coast. EQT has been talking about moving into LNG since 2022 and the agreement with Sempra marks its first binding agreement to buy the fuel.

Separately, also on August 27, Bloomberg reported that EQT was in talks with LNG developer NextDecade over the supply of LNG from the under-construction Rio Grande terminal in Texas. Bloomberg cited people familiar with the matter, who did not provide further details and asked not to be identified because the discussions are confidential.