Mexico Grants Concession to Mexico Pacific for LNG Terminal

Mexico’s Navy (SEMAR) has granted a concession to Mexico Pacific for the construction and operation of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Puerto Libertad, Sonora. The concession covers an area of 5.8 million m2 and involves an investment of MX$3.95 billion (US$196.6 million).

The concession title was awarded to Mexico Pacific Land Holdings and Mexico Pacific Permits Holdings. Both entities own land adjacent to the port in the municipality of Pitiquito.

The terminal will be operated by Saguaro Energy, a subsidiary of Mexico Pacific, with a planned LNG production capacity of 15Mt per year. The facility will include three trains, each capable of producing 5Mt annually. The gas supply will be sourced from the Permian Basin in Texas through the 800Km Sierra Madre pipeline, which has a capacity of about 2.8Bcf/d. The LNG produced at the terminal will be exported to Asian markets.

According to the concession title, the terminal's allocated area includes an auxiliary dock covering 30,060.60 m2, equipped with five berthing dolphins and a dock for smaller vessels, a main jetty spanning 44,370.69 m2, featuring two berths for LNG carriers, and an anchorage zone for larger vessels, including a turning circle with an 800m diameter.

The project site was originally authorized for LNG regasification by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) in 2006. In 2017, the Agency for Safety, Energy, and Environment (ASEA) approved the transfer of rights to Mexico Pacific Land Holdings. The environmental impact assessment was later modified in 2018 to support LNG liquefaction instead of regasification.