AMIGO LNG Terminal

This article is part of the Global Fossil Infrastructure Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

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AMIGO LNG Terminal is an LNG export terminal under development in the Sonora region of Mexico.

Location

This LNG export terminal is to be located at the Port of Guaymas in Mexico's Sonora state.

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Project Details

Project Details, Train 1

• Owner: LNG Alliance Pte Ltd Singapore; Epcilon LNG LLC
• Parent company: LNG Alliance Pte Ltd Singapore; Epcilon LNG LLC
• Location: Guaymas, Sonora
• Coordinates: 27.922867, -110.868082 (approximate)

• Type: Export
• Capacity: 4.2 mtpa
• Status: Proposed
• Start Year: 2026
• Cost:
• Financing:
• FID status: Pre-FID (2024)

Project Details, Train 2

• Owner: LNG Alliance Pte Ltd Singapore; Epcilon LNG LLC
• Parent company: LNG Alliance Pte Ltd Singapore; Epcilon LNG LLC
• Location: Guaymas, Sonora
• Coordinates: 27.922867, -110.868082 (approximate)
• Type: Export
• Capacity: 3.6 mtpa
• Status: Proposed
• Start Year: 2027
• Cost:
• Financing:
• FID status: Pre-FID

Note: mtpa = million tonnes per year; bcfd = billion cubic feet per day

Background

The Texas to Asia gas pipeline: the Amigo LNG Terminal is one of several pipeline-supplied terminals on Mexico's Pacific coast designed to export Permian Basin gas to international markets, including Asia (Flourish Graphic by Carolina Chau, Global Energy Monitor)

The AMIGO (American Mexican Integrated Gas Operations) terminal is an LNG export terminal currently under development on Mexico's Pacific coast; the terminal is to be located in Guaymas, Sonora state, on the Gulf of California. Plans call for the terminal, with a proposed capacity of between 7 mtpa and 7.8 mtpa (metric tonnes per annum), to import natural gas from the United States' Permian shale basin through existing pipeline networks - including the Samalayuca-Sásabe gas pipeline and the Sásabe-Guaymas gas pipeline - and liquefy it for export to markets in Asia.

The AMIGO terminal has obtained both FTA and non-FTA permits from the US Department of Energy, valid until December 2027.

The terminal project is being developed by AMIGO LNG, S.A., an affiliate of Epcilon LNG LLC. In March 2020, Epcicon requested permission from the United States DOE (Department of Energy), Office of Fossil Energy, to export up to 395 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per year of American natural gas into Mexico, with a portion of that gas to be liquefied in Mexico for re-export to Asia. Epcilon's request was officially approved by the DOE in December 2020.

As of March 2022, AMIGO LNG's website indicated that land acquisition and permitting for the AMIGO terminal were initiated in the third quarter of 2020, with EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) to be initiated in the fourth quarter of 2021. A separate March 2022 assessment from BNAmericas estimated that construction would begin in 2022, with startup of commercial operations anticipated by 2027.

As of August 2022, project owner LNG Alliance Ltd expected to make a final investment decision on the AMIGO terminal by February 2023, having already procured commitments of Permian Basin gas for the project starting in 2025. The company was reportedly negotiating purchase agreements with customers in India and seeking a 25-year contract to obtain gas for the terminal from the adjacent Sásabe-Guaymas Gas Pipeline.

A June 2023 report from ICIS (Independent Commodity Intelligence Services) indicated that a FID on the project was still pending. As of July 2023, project owner LNG Alliance stated on its website that it still hoped to begin EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) on marine facilities for the liquefaction plant in 2023, with initial LNG shipments to Asia to follow in mid-2026.

In August 2024, Amigo LNG announced that it had signed an agreement to supply 3.6 mtpa of LNG to E&H Energy SDN BHD of Malaysia over a 20-year period beginning in the third quarter of 2027. However, the company had reportedly still not made an FID on the project.

If the terminal does not begin operations by the December 8, 2027 deadline stipulated by the US Department of Energy (DOE), project owner LNG Alliance will need to request an extension in order to move forward.

Opposition

Numerous citizens' groups in Mexico, including Greenpeace, Nuestro Futuro, Alianza Mexicana Contra el Fracking, Conexiones Climáticas and Planeteando have called for the government to cancel all pending LNG export terminal projects in the country. The groups argue that LNG terminals create a host of serious negative impacts for local communities, including health effects from toxic chemicals such as benzine and nitrogen oxides, climate change associated with heightened levels of greenhouse gas emissions, devastation of marine life due to dredging, and the associated negative economic impacts on fisheries.