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Sempra Signs Bechtel for Port Arthur, Texas LNG Project Second Phase

A rendering of the Port Arthur LNG facility project's first and second phases.
*Rendering courtesy Bechtel Energy*

Bechtel Energy announced July 18 that it has agreed to a fixed-price engineering, procurement and construction contract for the second phase of Sempra Infrastructure's Port Arthur, Texas, LNG expansion project. The award comes four years after Bechtel signed on to deliver the LNG project's first phase

In March 2023, Sempra reported total capital expenditures for the first phase at $13 billion, with Bechtel's contract estimated at $10.5 billion. Its contract value for the second phase was not disclosed.

Construction of the Port Arthur LNG first phase consists of two liquefaction trains and two LNG storage tanks and associated facilities. A Bechtel press release estimated the expected commercial operation dates for trains 1 and 2 as 2027 and 2028, respectively.

The second phase of the project will add up to two additional liquefaction trains, according to the contractor.

In late June, Sempra announced it had signed a 20-year sale and purchase agreement with Saudi Arabian petroleum and natural gas company Aramco for LNG from the Port Arthur terminal. In this same announcement, Sempra said the facility "has potential to expand to a total of eight trains."

But the project still needs export approval from the U.S. Energy Dept.

Sempra also said it continues to move forward with the proposed Titan carbon sequestration project, which it said would capture carbon dioxide emitted from the Port Arthur LNG facility. The project would transport captured CO₂ via pipeline to an injection well more than one mile underground. The company says that earlier this year it has begun the permitting process for this project in a filing to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"We are excited for the opportunity to advance our partnership with Sempra Infrastructure on the Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 project," Bechtel Energy President Paul Marsden, said in a statement.

Scott Judy is ENR’s Managing Editor. His roughly 34 years as a construction journalist began with an 11-year stint visiting and writing about construction projects in the Midwest region of Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. Then, in 2000, Judy helped launch ENR Southeast, now known as ENR Texas & Southeast. After all these years, Judy says his favorite part of being an ENR editor is visiting job sites and learning how—and reporting on—a team’s approach to overcoming the project’s design and construction challenges. And Judy says he never turns down an invitation for a project visit.