Sempra Infrastructure has achieved a major commercial milestone with the successful loading and departure of the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo from its ECA LNG Phase 1 project in Ensenada, Mexico. The inaugural shipment, loaded onto the tanker Pacific Success and destined for Asian markets, was lifted by TotalEnergies, the exclusive offtaker for the project’s operational ramp-up phase. As the first operating LNG liquefaction facility on Mexico’s Pacific Coast, Phase 1 features a 3.25 Mtpa production train that bypasses the Panama Canal to offer the shortest maritime transit route for Permian Basin natural gas to Pacific buyers. The arrival of this new, highly reliable supply route comes at a critical juncture for the global energy trade as persistent geopolitical volatility continues to disrupt standard shipping channels.
Sempra Infrastructure, a subsidiary of Sempra, announced on July 8 that the ECA LNG Phase 1 project in Ensenada, Mexico, has safely and successfully loaded and shipped its first cargo of liquefied natural gas, an important milestone toward full commercial operations. The inaugural cargo was lifted by TotalEnergies, the sole LNG offtaker during the project’s ramp-up phase, and shipped to Asia.
According to Global Energy Mexico, the milestone was reached through a strategic alliance between Sempra Infrastructure and France’s TotalEnergies. “At a time of increased uncertainty in the global LNG trade, we are excited to begin shipping a new and reliable source of natural gas from North America’s Pacific Coast to customers around the globe,” said Justin Bird, CEO,Sempra Infrastructure.
Mexico’s First Pacific Coast LNG Export Terminal
Once fully operational, ECA LNG will become the first LNG liquefaction export facility on Mexico’s Pacific Coast, providing a direct route for US natural gas from the Permian Basin to Asian and other Pacific Basin markets.
The project is supported by long-term LNG sale and purchase agreements with TotalEnergies and Mitsui & Co. Ltd. TotalEnergies, which holds a 16.6% interest in the project, is contracted to purchase 1.7 million tonnes per year of LNG for 20 years beginning at commercial operations. Mitsui & Co. is contracted for approximately 800,000 tonnes per year.
The strategic value of Ensenada’s location on the Pacific Coast is the project’s defining commercial advantage. According to Global Energy Mexico, ECA LNG’s location offers a unique competitive advantage for the arbitrage and transport of US-sourced natural gas toward Asian and Pacific Basin markets, optimizing the logistics chain through shorter maritime routes that dramatically reduce transit times, operational costs, and commercial uncertainty in the region.
Phase 1 consists of a single 3.25 million tonnes per year liquefaction train supplied with US natural gas sourced from the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico. The project reached mechanical completion in December 2025 and is expected to reach substantial completion in summer 2026, with sales under long-term sale and purchase agreements commencing shortly thereafter.
The Pacific Success Departs Ensenada
The Pacific Success tanker left the Energia Costa Azul plant at Ensenada in Baja California late Tuesday, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. The tanker’s draft level increased, indicating it had loaded a cargo.
The departure of the Pacific Success represents the physical realization of an investment decision taken six years earlier. Sempra Infrastructure and TotalEnergies added natural gas liquefaction capabilities to the existing ECA LNG regasification terminal, located north of Ensenada. The partners took FID on the development back in 2020, and ECA LNG Phase 1 includes a single-train liquefaction facility with a nameplate capacity of 3.25 million tonnes per year. TotalEnergies and Mitsui & Co. will offtake a combined 2.5 million tonnes per year from the facility under 20-year deals.
Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies, said the start-up of ECA LNG “whose strategic location provides privileged access to Asian markets, strengthens the quality of our integrated LNG portfolio in North America. TotalEnergies is pleased to contribute to the project’s ramp-up by exporting its first LNG cargoes.”
Timing: A New Supply Route During Hormuz Uncertainty
The first cargo departed Mexico at a pivotal moment for global LNG trade. The Iran conflict that erupted in late February 2026 effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz to tanker traffic for several months, removing Qatar — the world’s largest LNG exporter — and major Middle Eastern producers from Asian markets simultaneously. Although a US-Iran memorandum of understanding was signed in June and a 60-day oil sanctions waiver was issued on June 21, Iran subsequently struck three tankers in and near the Strait on July 7, prompting the US Treasury to revoke General License X and restore sanctions restrictions.