(Bloomberg) -- Sempra Infrastructure LLC has selected contractor Bechtel Energy Corp. to expand its under-construction Port Arthur LNG export plant in Texas, the companies announced on Thursday.
Bechtel was already chosen to build the first phase of the plant, which is designed to produce 13 million tons a year. The first two units are expected to start operations in 2027 and 2028, respectively.
The cost to build out the expansion, which will double the facility’s capacity, was not disclosed in the announcement. Sempra’s agreement with Bechtel includes efforts ahead of the final investment decision “to better assure project cost and schedule certainty,” the companies said.
Sempra has announced non-binding agreements to sell a 25% stake in the Port Arthur expansion to a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco and to supply LNG to Ineos Energy Trading Ltd. But the company has been caught up in a freeze on new LNG export licenses imposed by the Biden administration, with its Port Arthur expansion still pending final regulatory approval from the Energy Department to sell to key LNG importing nations.
The rival Golden Pass project, under construction in Texas, is also facing delays due a rift between builder Zachry Holdings Inc. and joint developers QatarEnergy and ExxonMobil Corp. Zachry, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as a result of ballooning project costs, laid off thousands of workers from the site, placing the project’s timeline in limbo.
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