The expansive liquefied natural gas project in Baja Mexico launched by a subsidiary of San Diego energy giant Sempra has loaded and shipped its first export cargo this week, marking a significant milestone for the region’s energy sector and the broader LNG global export market.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Energía Costa Azul (ECA) facility, located in Ensenada, Mexico, is not expected to go completely online until later this summer, but company officials touted the successful loading and shipping as a milestone toward full commercial operations.
“At a time of increased uncertainty in the global LNG trade, we are excited to begin shipping a new and reliable source of natural gas from North America’s Pacific Coast to customers around the globe,” Sempra Infrastructure CEO Justin Bird said in a statement.
While Sempra Infrastructure did not provide extensive detail about the shipment, TotalEnergies of France confirmed in a separate news release that the cargo was heading to Asia, though the specific destination was not disclosed. International ship-tracking platform Kpler reported that a TotalEnergies-operated vessel called Pacific Success is carrying the inaugural cargo.
TotalEnergies owns a minority stake in the project and will offtake 1.7 million metric tons of LNG for 20 years from the start of commercial operations. The rollout of ECA “strengthens the quality of our integrated LNG portfolio in North America,” TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné said in a statement, adding that the facility’s location “provides privileged access” to markets in Asia that are hungry for natural gas.
The Pacific Ocean location of the facility is considered particularly lucrative for LNG exports. Unlike facilities on the U.S. Gulf Coast, shipments from Ensenada can complete the journey to Asian markets in roughly half the time and avoid the tolls associated with transit through the Panama Canal. This geographic advantage gives the ECA facility a significant competitive edge in the growing Asia-Pacific LNG market.
Phase 1 of the ECA project expects to have the capacity to ship 3.25 million metric tons of LNG per year from a single liquefaction “train,” or production unit, to markets around the globe, with a focus on Asia and the Pacific Basin. The natural gas at ECA is sourced via pipelines that bring gas from the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico. Development of Phase 2 is already underway.
The LNG global export business has been booming over the past decade, with U.S.-based companies becoming major players. Countries across Europe became more reliant on LNG imports following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. More recently, traffic restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz following military actions in Iran have heightened the focus on oil and natural gas deliveries worldwide, making new export capacity on the Pacific Coast particularly valuable.
However, the project has not been without controversy. Environmental groups have long opposed LNG exports, arguing that they contribute to global warming and slow the adoption of carbon-free energy sources. “Sempra’s LNG terminal expands the use of methane gas, a fossil fuel and greenhouse gas that is 20-80 times as potent as carbon dioxide, exacerbating dangerous and costly climate disasters,” Masada Disenhouse, executive director of SanDiego350, said in an email to the Union-Tribune.
The project is also significant for San Diego-based Sempra’s corporate strategy. The parent company is in the process of de-emphasizing its LNG investments. Last fall, the company announced a $10 billion deal to sell 45% of Sempra Infrastructure to affiliates of global private investment giant KKR and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Under the plan, expected to be completed this year, Sempra’s share of the first phase of Energía Costa Azul will be reduced from 58.4% to 20.9%.
The partial divestment extends to other Sempra infrastructure assets as well. On the U.S. Gulf Coast, Sempra’s ownership share of Cameron LNG in Louisiana will be reduced from 35.1% to 12.6%. Its share of the Port Arthur LNG project in Texas will also decrease significantly. The restructuring reflects a broader strategic shift by Sempra toward its regulated utility businesses, which provide more predictable returns compared to the volatile LNG market.
The facility’s operations also have implications for the broader San Diego-Baja California cross-border economy, creating jobs and infrastructure investment on both sides of the border and strengthening energy trade ties between the U.S. and Mexico. The project employs hundreds of workers in Ensenada and supports additional jobs in the San Diego headquarters of Sempra, contributing to the binational economic relationship that is increasingly important to the San Diego regional economy.
The first cargo shipment also comes at a pivotal moment for global energy markets. The Strait of Hormuz disruptions related to the Iran conflict have underscored the strategic value of Pacific-facing LNG export facilities that can serve Asian markets without transiting contested shipping lanes. The ECA facility’s ability to deliver LNG from the Pacific Coast of North America to Asian buyers in roughly half the time required for Gulf Coast shipments positions it as a critical piece of global energy infrastructure.
For San Diego’s energy sector, the ECA facility’s first shipment represents both a culmination of years of development and a transition point. The project has been in development since the mid-2010s and has weathered multiple market disruptions, including the pandemic, changes in global energy demand, and shifting trade policies. Its successful commissioning validates the strategic rationale for Pacific Coast LNG export capacity, even as Sempra itself reduces its exposure to the sector.
The facility’s operations also have implications for the broader San Diego-Baja California cross-border economy, creating jobs and infrastructure investment on both sides of the border and strengthening energy trade ties between the U.S. and Mexico.
