Feed gas has begun flowing to the third and final train at the Cameron liquefied natural gas export base project in Louisiana, kicking off the final testing stage before the unit is placed into service.

Operator Sempra Energy said on Wednesday the 4 million tonnes per annum train had entered the final commissioning phase after receiving federal clearance on Tuesday.

The train is scheduled to be placed into commercial service in the third quarter of this year.

"Cameron LNG is a huge success story and a great tribute to what this organisation and its people are capable of," said Lisa Glatch, chief operating officer of Sempra LNG and board chair for Cameron LNG.

But the news comes as market demand for LNG has tumbled as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Poten & Partners on Wednesday said it expects LNG demand in 2020 to drop by 11 million tonnes year-on-year.

The first train at the 12 million tpa facility came online last year, while Train 2 entered service last month.

Sempra Energy's share of full-year run-rate earnings from the entire three-train Phase 1 project is expected to be between $400 million and $450 million annually starting in 2021 when all three trains are in commercial operations under Cameron LNG's tolling agreements.

A long-awaited two-train expansion is also in the works, though the project developers were recently granted a six-year extension to bring that plan to service.

Sempra's LNG subsidiary is developing two other export projects in North America: Port Arthur LNG in Texas and Energía Costa Azul LNG Mexico.

Sempra is partnered on Cameron LNG by Total, Mitsui, and Japan LNG Investment. The latter is a joint venture of Mitsubishi and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK).

LNG

Cameron LNG Train 3 enters final testing stage