When completed in 2008, the new facility will be the first LNG import facility on North America's West Coast, capable of processing 1 billion cubic feet of gas per day.

The supply agreement begins in 2008 and provides Comission Federal de Electricidad (CFE) with an average of about 130 million cubic feet per day of natural gas.

Sempra said it will fulfill the contract using natural gas processed at its new Energia Costa Azul liquefied natural gas receipt terminal currently under development about 20km north of Ensenada in Baja California.

The long-term CFE sales contract will consume more than a quarter of the natural gas Sempra LNG is buying from Indonesia in a supply agreement announced in October. The Tangguh LNG project site was not affected by the recent tsunami, Sempra officials said.

The LNG reliquification facility is intended to provide significant supplies for the US and Mexican markets.

Sempra LNG is the sole owner and operator of Energia Costa Azul but has signed a 20-year agreement to provide Shell International Gas Ltd. with half the facility's processing capacity.