Sempra Energy, a North American energy infrastructure company based in San Diego, California and focussing on electric and natural gas infrastructure, and Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) have signed a series of agreements to further develop gas infrastructure projects, including the proposed 4 Mt/year (5.5 bcm/year) Vista Pacífico LNG project in Topolobampo, in Sinaloa state and a potential 3 Mt/year (4 bcm/year) new LNG terminal in Salina Cruz, in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca.

These development projects would allow CFE to potentially optimise the use of existing natural gas pipeline systems, provide additional sources of LNG supply for isolated markets in Mexico and continue to expand LNG supplies to the global market.

The agreements provide a framework for a joint venture that would ultimately restore service at the Guaymas-El Oro pipeline in Sonora, which due to damage has been inoperable since late 2017 and needs to be rerouted.

The pipeline is the second segment of a 500-mile (800-km) line that was designed to supply U.S. natural gas to Mexican government-owned power plants that are currently using fuel oil.

"These development projects would allow CFE to potentially optimize the use of existing natural gas pipeline systems, provide additional sources of LNG supply for isolated markets in Mexico and continue to expand LNG supplies to the global market," the companies said in a statement.