Sempra rejoins port authority project

Sempra LNG, which worked with the Alaska Gasline Port Authority on its liquefied natural gas project in 2004 and 2005, is back onboard, the port authority said July 9.

Mitsubishi Corp. is also involved in the project, an 800-mile natural gas pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez and a liquefied natural gas facility at Valdez.

“Sempra LNG has worked with us in the past in providing critical natural gas and LNG market insight and we are pleased to gain their expertise,” Bill Walker, the port authority’s general counsel and project manager, said in a statement.

“We feel that the only certain solution to Alaska’s natural gas pipeline challenges is for the state to take ownership and develop the project so its citizens can control their energy future,” said Darcel Hulse president and chief executive officer of Sempra LNG.

“We think the state is better positioned to control the risks and uncertainties of this natural gas pipeline project than a private developer and would eliminate Alaska’s dependency on parties outside its jurisdiction,” said Bert Cottle, chairman of the port authority.

Sempra LNG develops and operates LNG receipt terminals serving North American markets. The company’s Energía Costa Azul facility in Baja California, Mexico, the only LNG receiving terminal on the West Coast, went into operation in May.

—Petroleum News