Sempra Energy swings back to profit

San Diego-based energy company and LNG operator Sempra Energy swung back to profit in the second quarter of 2019. 

The company reported second-quarter 2019 earnings of $354 million which compares to $561 million loss in the corresponding quarter last year.

Sempra added that it expects substantial completion of the first liquefaction train of the Cameron LNG export project in Hackberry, Louisiana, in the coming days, with commercial operations to begin in mid-August.

This follows the first commissioning cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Train 1, which was announced in May.

The LNG development projects are continuing to advance, including a heads of agreement (HOA) signed between Sempra LNG and Aramco Services Company in May. The HOA anticipates the negotiation and finalization of a definitive 20-year LNG sale-and-purchase agreement for 5 million tonnes per annum of LNG offtake from the Port Arthur LNG export project under development.

Sempra Energy’s earnings for the first six months of 2019 were $795 million, compared with losses of $214 million in the first six months of 2018.