Mexico's Energia Costa Azul LNG terminal has exported its first cargo, a key milestone for the Sempra (SRE) facility, as operational data reveal significant volatility in its feedgas supply, Wood Mackenzie strategists said in a note on Monday.
The latest vessel-tracking data from Wood Mackenzie indicates that the Pacific Success arrived at the ECA terminal on the country's Pacific coast on July 6 and departed the following day carrying a fully loaded LNG cargo.
Sempra Infrastructure confirmed on July 8 that the shipment represented the project's inaugural LNG export.
The consultancy said the vessel's draft increased from 9.4 meters on arrival to 11.5 meters on departure, equivalent to about 96% of its summer maximum loading capacity, indicating the cargo was loaded close to full capacity.
The first export comes as operational data suggest the terminal experienced a sharp reduction in liquefaction activity during the loading period.
Wood Mackenzie satellite imagery showed visible liquefaction activity beginning to slow from the July 2 gas day, with no heating signatures observed from July 3 onward.
Simultaneously, nominations on the Gasoducto Rosarito pipeline supplying the liquefaction plant dropped sharply from more than 400 million cubic feet per day, where they had averaged over the previous two weeks, to 31 MMcf on July 2 and just 7 MMcf on July 4.
Wood Mackenzie strategists said the decline continued in the following days. GRO later announced scheduled maintenance at its Las Dunas compressor station through July 10 and reported gas quality issues at ECA's regasification receipt point on July 1 and July 6.
Feedgas deliveries, which had consistently exceeded 400 MMcf/d for several weeks, fell to zero between July 5 and July 7, according to the latest reported gas-day data tracked by Wood Mackenzie.
The disruption also affected cross-border gas flows, with pipeline exports from California into Mexico declining from a two-week average of about 828 MMcf/d to below 500 MMcf/d after July 2.
The consultancy said the operational indicators suggest the temporary reduction in feedgas supply was likely linked to maintenance activity and gas quality constraints rather than a broader commissioning setback.
ECA is the first LNG export project on Mexico's Pacific coast. The facility is designed to process US natural gas delivered via pipeline into LNG for export to Asian and other international markets.
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