US appeals court scraps Sempra's Port Arthur LNG emissions permit
A U.S. court has removed an emissions permit for Sempra's Port Arthur LNG export terminal in Texas, but the company said construction of the facility will continue for now, according to Reuters.
The approximately 13.5 million-metric-tons-per-annum (mtpa) Port Arthur plant has approval to export LNG to both Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and non-FTA countries, including Europe, and is part of the U.S. LNG expansion to meet growing global demand for the superchilled gas.
In its decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Tuesday found that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) failed to impose the same emissions limits on the Port Arthur plant as on other projects, including the Rio Grande LNG project which is now under construction. In a statement on Wednesday, Sempra said construction is continuing on the project under existing permits and it remains committed to working with the TCEQ.
The decision sends the Port Arthur LNG permit application back to the TCEQ for new evaluation.
Sempra Infrastructure retains a 28% indirect stake in the plant's Phase 1, while oil and gas company ConocoPhillips owns 30%. Investment firm KKR owns a 20% stake in Sempra Infrastructure while Sempra Energy owns 70% and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority owns 10%.
