Under the terms of the agreement, 3.7 million tonnes of LNG per year from 2008 will be delivered from the Tangguh LNG facility in Irian Jaya for 20 years to Sempra’s proposed LNG terminal in Ensenada, Mexico.

The receival terminal is expected to have the capacity to process up to 1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of natural gas. The LNG will be marketed to Mexico and the US West Coast.

In a statement BP said, “Developed with BPMIGAS, Indonesia’s executive agency for oil and gas, the agreement will be highly flexible in nature allowing LNG cargoes to be diverted to capture value in other markets while providing substantial base volumes and revenues to the Sempra Energy LNG terminal.”

According to BP Chief Executive Gas, Power & Renewables Division, Vivienne Cox, “This is an important deal for a number of reasons. It secures a high value market for Indonesia’s gas resources and connects gas users in Mexico and the US to a significant new energy supply source. It completes our portfolio of markets for a two-train launch of the Tangguh project by taking the level of agreed sales beyond 7.5 million tonnes per year.”

“And with its highly distinctive flexibility, it will allow us to continue offering Tangguh gas to other important markets in Asia Pacific such as Japan,” added Cox.

Sempra Energy President and CEO Donald E. Felsinger concurred with Cox’s statement.

“This landmark agreement represents a significant, positive step forward for LNG projects in North America and Asia [and] enables the further development of the first new LNG receiving terminal along North America’s west coast, while allowing a new LNG supply project to move forward in Indonesia,” said Felsinger.