SAN DIEGO, June 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Sempra LNG, a
unit of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), today announced it has executed
a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with an affiliate
of Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (Woodside) (ASX: WPL, OTC: WOPEY) to
commence discussions and assessments for the potential development
of Sempra LNG's proposed Port
Arthur liquefaction project in Port Arthur, Texas.
"Sempra Energy and Woodside bring together an extraordinary
complimentary set of experience and skills from two world-class
organizations," said E. Scott
Chrisman, vice president of commercial & development for
Sempra LNG. "We look forward to engaging Woodside in discussions
regarding the proposed Port Arthur
liquefaction project."
Woodside has a track record of more than 30 years of experience
in the development and safe and reliable operations in the LNG
industry with the North West Shelf and Pluto projects in
Australia. Sempra LNG, as lead
sponsor of the Cameron liquefaction project in Louisiana and currently in construction, has
demonstrated its ability to develop high-value, low-cost liquefied
natural gas (LNG) projects in North
America.
The non-binding MOU is the initial step for Sempra LNG and
Woodside to explore this opportunity and undertake due diligence
for the potential development of the Port
Arthur liquefaction project. Any decision to proceed with a
binding agreement between Woodside and Sempra LNG in relation to
the potential development of the project, including the
establishment of any joint venture or partnership between Sempra
LNG and Woodside, is contingent upon completing project assessments
and achieving other necessary internal and external approvals for
each party.
The proposed Port Arthur
liquefaction project would be located at a site previously
permitted for an LNG regasification terminal and would be designed
to include two natural gas liquefaction trains with a total export
capability of approximately 10 million metric tons per annum, or
1.4 billion cubic feet per day, as well as LNG storage tanks and
marine facilities for LNG ship berthing and loading.
In March 2015, Sempra LNG's
affiliate, Port Arthur LNG, LLC, initiated the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission pre-filing review for the proposed natural
gas liquefaction facility and filed its permit application with the
U.S. Department of Energy for authorization to export LNG produced
from the proposed project to all current and future Free Trade
Agreement countries.
Any development of the project remains contingent upon
completing required commercial agreements; acquiring all necessary
permits and approvals; securing financing commitments and potential
tax incentives; achieving other customary conditions; and making a
final investment decision to proceed.
Sempra Energy, based in San
Diego, is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company with
2014 revenues of $11 billion. The
Sempra Energy companies' 17,000 employees serve more than 32
million consumers worldwide.
Woodside is an Australian oil and gas company with a global
presence, recognized for its world-class capabilities, as an
explorer, a developer, a producer and a supplier. Woodside is
Australia's most experienced LNG
operator and largest independent oil and gas company.
This press release contains statements that are not
historical fact and constitute forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These statements can be identified by words like
"believes," "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "estimates,"
"projects," "forecasts," "contemplates," "intends," "depends,"
"should," "could," "would," "will," "confident," "may,"
"potential," "possible," "proposed," "target,"
"pursue," "goals," "outlook," "maintain" or similar expressions, or
discussions of guidance, strategies, plans, goals, opportunities,
projections, initiatives, objectives or intentions.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance.
They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Future
results may differ materially from those expressed in the
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are
necessarily based upon various assumptions involving judgments with
respect to the future and other risks, including, among others:
local, regional, national and international economic, competitive,
political, legislative and regulatory conditions and developments;
actions and the timing of actions, including issuances of permits
to construct and licenses for operation, by the California Public
Utilities Commission, California State Legislature, U.S. Department
of Energy, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, California Energy
Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, California Air
Resources Board, and other regulatory, governmental and
environmental bodies in the United
States and other countries in which we operate; the timing
and success of business development efforts and construction,
maintenance and capital projects, including risks in obtaining,
maintaining or extending permits, licenses, certificates and other
authorizations on a timely basis and risks in obtaining adequate
and competitive financing for such projects; energy markets,
including the timing and extent of changes and volatility in
commodity prices, and the impact of any protracted reduction in oil
prices from historical averages; the impact on the value of our
natural gas storage assets from low natural gas prices, low
volatility of natural gas prices and the inability to procure
favorable long-term contracts for natural gas storage services;
delays in the timing of costs incurred and the timing of the
regulatory agency authorization to recover such costs in rates from
customers; capital markets conditions, including the availability
of credit and the liquidity of our investments; inflation, interest
and currency exchange rates; the impact of benchmark interest
rates, generally Moody's A-rated utility bond yields, on our
California Utilities' cost of capital; the availability of electric
power, natural gas and liquefied natural gas, and natural gas
pipeline and storage capacity, including disruptions caused by
failures in the North American transmission grid, pipeline
explosions and equipment failures and the decommissioning of San
Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS); cybersecurity threats to
the energy grid, natural gas storage and pipeline infrastructure,
the information and systems used to operate our businesses and the
confidentiality of our proprietary information and the personal
information of our customers, terrorist attacks that threaten
system operations and critical infrastructure, and wars; the
ability to win competitively bid infrastructure projects against a
number of strong competitors willing to aggressively bid for these
projects; weather conditions, conservation efforts, natural
disasters, catastrophic accidents, and other events that may
disrupt our operations, damage our facilities and systems, and
subject us to third-party liability for property damage or personal
injuries; risks that our partners or counterparties will be unable
or unwilling to fulfill their contractual commitments; risks posed
by decisions and actions of third parties who control the
operations of investments in which we do not have a controlling
interest; risks inherent with nuclear power facilities and
radioactive materials storage, including the catastrophic release
of such materials, the disallowance of the recovery of the
investment in, or operating costs of, the nuclear facility due to
an extended outage and facility closure, and increased regulatory
oversight; business, regulatory, environmental and legal decisions
and requirements; expropriation of assets by foreign governments
and title and other property disputes; the impact on reliability of
San Diego Gas & Electric Company's (SDG&E) electric
transmission and distribution system due to increased amount and
variability of power supply from renewable energy sources; the
impact on competitive customer rates of the growth in distributed
and local power generation and the corresponding decrease in demand
for power delivered through SDG&E's electric transmission and
distribution system; the inability or determination not to enter
into long-term supply and sales agreements or long-term firm
capacity agreements due to insufficient market interest,
unattractive pricing or other factors; the resolution of
litigation; and other uncertainties, all of which are difficult to
predict and many of which are beyond our control. These risks
and uncertainties are further discussed in the reports that Sempra
Energy has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These
reports are available through the EDGAR system free-of-charge on
the SEC's website, www.sec.gov, and on the company's
website at www.sempra.com.
Investors should not rely unduly on any forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of
the date hereof, and the company undertakes no obligation to update
or revise these forecasts or projections or other forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise.
Sempra International, LLC, and Sempra U.S. Gas & Power,
LLC, are not the same companies as the California utilities, San Diego Gas &
Electric (SDG&E) or Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas),
and Sempra International, LLC, and Sempra U.S. Gas & Power,
LLC, are not regulated by the California Public Utilities
Commission. Sempra International's underlying entities include
Sempra Mexico and Sempra South American Utilities. Sempra U.S. Gas
& Power's underlying entities include Sempra Renewables and
Sempra Natural Gas.
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SOURCE Sempra LNG