ECA LNG: Mexico’s Pacific Coast Export Terminal 2026

ECA LNG — Energía Costa Azul LNG — is Mexico’s first operational Pacific-facing liquefaction and export terminal, located at Ensenada in Baja California. Phase 1 reached commercial operations in 2025 with nameplate capacity of 3.25 MTPA, making it the only facility in the Americas capable of loading LNG cargoes directly into Pacific shipping lanes without a Panama Canal transit. That geography is the project’s defining commercial advantage.

Project Overview and Location

The terminal sits on an existing regasification facility — the original Energía Costa Azul import terminal built in 2008 — which was repurposed and expanded to support liquefaction. The site is approximately 85 kilometres south of the US-Mexico border at San Diego, positioning it within pipeline reach of US Permian and Western Canadian gas supply via the Baja Pipeline and associated interconnects.

The Pacific location cuts sailing time to key Asian import markets significantly compared with Gulf of Mexico export terminals. A cargo from ECA LNG reaches Japan in approximately 10 days; the equivalent voyage from Sabine Pass, Louisiana requires 20-plus days including Canal transit. For Japanese and South Korean buyers operating on spot or short-term contracts, that freight saving is a material commercial differentiator.

Phase 1 uses a mid-scale liquefaction configuration based on Chart Industries’ IPSMR technology — a modular approach suited to the site’s constrained coastal footprint and the project’s relatively compact first-phase capacity target. Two liquefaction trains underpin the Phase 1 output, fed by pipeline gas arriving from the north.

Ownership and Off-Take Structure

Sempra Infrastructure is the project’s lead developer, holding a majority ownership position and serving as operator. Sempra’s involvement connects ECA LNG directly to the company’s broader LNG export portfolio, which includes Cameron LNG in Louisiana and the Port Arthur LNG project currently under construction in Texas — full details of Sempra’s terminal network are covered in the Sempra LNG infrastructure profile. IEnova, Sempra’s Mexican subsidiary, holds the local operating entity.

Total Energies holds an equity stake and an off-take agreement for a portion of Phase 1 capacity, providing a blue-chip European anchor buyer. The TotalEnergies involvement gives ECA LNG access to the French major’s global LNG trading and marketing infrastructure — a significant commercial asset for a first-of-kind facility in a new export jurisdiction.

Gas supply into the terminal is underpinned by long-term pipeline transportation agreements. The primary feed comes via the Sur de Texas-Tuxpan pipeline system and connecting infrastructure, drawing ultimately on US natural gas production from the Permian Basin and other Western supply regions. Mexico’s relatively low domestic gas production means ECA LNG is, in effect, a re-export facility for US molecules — a model that mirrors several Caribbean and European LNG projects that import US pipeline gas and export it as LNG to Asian markets.

ECA LNG Phase 2 and Expansion Plans

Sempra has progressed engineering work on ECA LNG Phase 2, which targets an additional capacity increment that would bring total site throughput to approximately 12 MTPA at full build-out. Phase 2 requires a separate final investment decision and additional off-take commitments before construction can proceed. As of 2026, commercial negotiations for Phase 2 capacity are ongoing, with Asian buyers — particularly Japanese utilities and South Korean importers — identified as the primary target market.

The expansion case rests on the same Pacific freight advantage that underpins Phase 1. If ECA LNG Phase 2 reaches FID and construction, it would position the Ensenada site as a significant mid-scale Pacific LNG hub — one of very few outside Australia and the US Gulf Coast capable of supplying contracted volumes to Northeast Asian buyers. Progress on Phase 2 is a key variable to watch in the global LNG project pipeline for 2026.

ECA LNG in the Global Export Terminal Market

At 3.25 MTPA for Phase 1, ECA LNG sits below the threshold of the world’s largest liquefaction facilities — the mega-trains at Ras Laffan, Darwin, and Sabine Pass each exceed 4 MTPA per train — but its Pacific positioning gives it a market niche that larger Gulf Coast facilities cannot replicate on freight economics alone. Among the top LNG export terminals ranked by capacity, ECA LNG’s Phase 1 is a mid-scale facility competing on route economics rather than volume.

Mexico’s regulatory environment adds a layer of complexity absent from US export projects. Permits, pipeline access agreements, and environmental approvals in Mexico operate under a different framework from FERC-regulated US terminals, and IEnova’s local operating presence has been central to navigating that environment. The terminal’s successful Phase 1 commissioning is itself a proof point for the viability of LNG export development in Mexico — a market with significant undeveloped gas resource potential in the longer term.

For terminal operators and LNG procurement managers evaluating Pacific supply options, ECA LNG’s combination of an operational Phase 1, a credible Phase 2 expansion pipeline, and Sempra’s operator track record makes it one of the more substantive emerging supply points in the Western Hemisphere LNG market heading into the second half of the decade.

ECA LNG Project Snapshot