Final Investment Decision Reached For Cameron LNG Liquefaction-Export Project

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Aug 06, 2014, 06:00 ET

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) today announced that the Cameron Liquefaction Project sponsors, Sempra LNG, GDF SUEZ S.A. (GDF SUEZ), Mitsui & Co., Ltd. (Mitsui) and Mitsubishi Corporation (Mitsubishi), through a related company jointly established with Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), each have approved a final investment decision for the development, construction and operation of the natural gas liquefaction and export project planned at the site of Sempra Energy's Cameron LNG receipt terminal in Hackberry, La.

The total project cost is estimated at approximately $10 billion, including contribution of the existing Cameron LNG facilities, construction of the new facilities and financing cost. The financing commitments for the project total $7.4 billion and will be provided by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) and a group of 29 commercial banks.

"This represents one of the largest project financings in the U.S.," said Octavio M.C. Simoes, president of Sempra LNG. "Today's commitments from our project sponsors and international banks put us one step closer to delivering domestic natural gas to America's trading partners in Europe and Japan."

The three-train natural gas liquefaction facilities will have an export capability of 12 million tonnes per annum of liquefied natural gas (LNG), or approximately 1.7 billion cubic feet per day. Subject to final regulatory approval, satisfaction of conditions of the initial equity funding and first disbursement of the financing, construction on the project is expected to begin later this year. All three trains are expected to commence operations during 2018, with the first full year of operations in 2019.

"Over the past two years, we've worked collaboratively with the project sponsors to stay on schedule throughout the commercial, technical design, permitting and project financing phases of the project," said E. Scott Chrisman, vice president of commercial development for Sempra LNG. "We appreciate the confidence our sponsors and the international financial community placed in our project and we look forward to starting construction on the project this year."

Earlier this year, Cameron LNG received authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to site, construct and operate the liquefaction facilities and was awarded conditional authorization from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to export LNG to non-free-trade-agreement (non-FTA) countries, including Japan and European nations. A final authorization from DOE is expected later this year.

Subject to the finalization of permits and other conditions to the equity and debt financing, Sempra Energy will have an indirect 50.2-percent ownership interest in Cameron LNG and the related liquefaction project, and the remaining portion will be owned by affiliates of GDF SUEZ, Mitsubishi (through a related company jointly established with NYK) and Mitsui, each with 16.6-percent stakes.

Sempra Energy, based in San Diego, is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company with 2013 revenues of more than $10.5 billion. The Sempra Energy companies' 17,000 employees serve more than 31 million consumers worldwide.

This press release contains statements that are not historical fact and constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by words like "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "estimates," "projects," "forecasts," "contemplates," "intends," "depends," "should," "could," "would," "will," "may," "potential," "target," "pursue," "goals," "outlook," "maintain" or similar expressions, or discussions of guidance, strategies, plans, goals, opportunities, projections, initiatives, objectives or intentions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Future results may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon various assumptions involving judgments with respect to the future and other risks, including, among others: local, regional, national and international economic, competitive, political, legislative and regulatory conditions and developments; actions and the timing of actions, including issuances of permits to construct and licenses for operation, by the California Public Utilities Commission, California State Legislature, U.S. Department of Energy, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, California Energy Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, California Air Resources Board, and other regulatory, governmental and environmental bodies in the United States and other countries in which we operate; capital markets conditions, including the availability of credit and the liquidity of our investments; the timing and success of business development efforts and construction, maintenance and capital projects, including risks in obtaining permits, licenses, certificates and other authorizations on a timely basis and risks in obtaining adequate and competitive financing for such projects; delays in the timing of costs incurred and the timing of regulatory agency authorization to recover such costs in rates from customers; inflation, interest and exchange rates; the impact of benchmark interest rates, generally Moody's A-rated utility bond yields, on our California utilities' cost of capital; energy markets, including the timing and extent of changes and volatility in commodity prices; the availability of electric power, natural gas and liquefied natural gas, including disruptions caused by failures in the North American transmission grid, pipeline explosions and equipment failures and the decommissioning of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS); weather conditions, natural disasters, catastrophic accidents, and conservation efforts; risks inherent with nuclear power facilities and radioactive materials storage, including the catastrophic release of such materials, the disallowance of the recovery of the investment in, or operating costs of, the nuclear facility due to an extended outage and facility closure, and increased regulatory oversight; risks that partners or counterparties will be unable or unwilling to fulfill their contractual commitments; risks posed by decisions and actions of third parties who control the operations of investments in which we do not have a controlling interest; wars, terrorist attacks that threaten system operations and critical infrastructure, and cybersecurity threats to the energy grid and the confidentiality of proprietary information and the personal information of customers; business, regulatory, environmental and legal decisions and requirements; expropriation of assets by foreign governments and title and other property disputes; the impact on reliability of San Diego Gas & Electric Company's electric transmission and distribution system due to increased amount and variability of power supply from renewable energy sources; the impact on competitive customer rates of the growth in distributed and local power generation and the corresponding decrease in demand for power delivered through San Diego Gas & Electric Company's electric transmission and distribution system; the inability or determination not to enter into long-term supply and sales agreements or long-term firm capacity agreements, due to insufficient market interest, unattractive pricing or other factors; the resolution of litigation; and other uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of the company. These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the reports that Sempra Energy has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These reports are available through the EDGAR system free-of-charge on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov, and on the company's website at www.sempra.com.

Investors should not rely unduly on any forward-looking statement. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forecasts or projections or other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Sempra International, LLC, and Sempra U.S. Gas & Power, LLC, are not the same companies as the California utilities, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) or Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), and Sempra International, LLC, and Sempra U.S. Gas & Power, LLC, are not regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission. Sempra International's underlying entities include Sempra Mexico and Sempra South American Utilities. Sempra U.S. Gas & Power's underlying entities include Sempra Renewables and Sempra Natural Gas.

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