OREANDA-NEWS. GDF SUEZ announces the signing of a joint venture agreement with Sempra Energy, Mitsubishi and Mitsui for the development, financing and construction of the natural gas liquefaction project of Cameron LNG, a unit of Sempra Energy, in Louisiana.

Located at the site of the existing Sempra Energy LNG terminal in Hackberry, the facility will have 3 liquefaction trains with a capacity of 12 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per annum and will be operated by Cameron LNG.

Under this joint venture agreement, GDF SUEZ, Mitsubishi and Mitsui will each acquire a 16.6% equity stake in the existing terminal and in the liquefaction project, with Sempra Energy retaining a 50.2% position.

Announced last year, GDF SUEZ has also signed with Sempra Energy a 20-year liquefaction service agreement. GDF SUEZ, Mitsubishi and Mitsui have subscribed the full capacity of the three-train facility. GDF SUEZ will thus have access to a capacity of 4 Mtpa of LNG, which will be exported to the Group’s LNG markets.

Jean-Marie Dauger, Executive Vice President of GDF SUEZ in charge of the Global Gas & LNG Business Line declared : “By joining the Cameron LNG project alongside strong and experienced partners, GDF SUEZ, a world leader in LNG, intends to make a decisive contribution to the emergence of a new source of LNG in the United States. The Cameron LNG project will serve to expand and diversify the Group’s LNG portfolio and increase its flexibility for supplying existing or future markets in high growth areas. ”

The tolling and joint venture agreements are subject to a final investment decision by each party, to final permit authorizations, and to securing financing commitments, all of which are expected by early 2014, along with customary conditions precedent. The new LNG plant is expected to start operations in late 2017. Last year, Cameron LNG obtained approval from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to export up to 12 Mtpa of domestically produced LNG to all current and future countries with which the United States has signed a Free Trade Agreement(1).

GDF SUEZ is one of the world’s leading LNG players and Europe’s largest LNG importer. Its LNG portfolio of 16 Mtpa, coming from six countries, is the third largest in the world. It operates a fleet of 17 LNG carriers and has a significant presence in regasification terminals throughout the world.