US companies to build LNG bunkering terminal in Mexico's Oaxaca state

A joint venture formed by energy company GFI LNG and infrastructure developer Pilot LNG will develop, construct, and operate an LNG bunkering and transshipment terminal in Salinas del Márquez, Salina Cruz, Oaxaca state, Mexico.

The US-based partners behind the Salina Cruz LNG joint venture said the project is ideally positioned to supply North and Central American bunker and fuel markets, as it is strategically located on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal.

At full build-out, the facility will be able to to produce 600,000 gallons (2.3 million litres) of LNG per day, or roughly 0.34 million tonnes per annum. The partners anticipate operations to commence in mid-to-late 2027.

The project is being designed to include modular, land-based liquefaction equipment and an optimised storage solution. The project will deploy a floating storage unit (FSU) with an estimated capacity ranging from 50,000 to 140,000 cubic metres to be moored inside the newly expanded breakwater in the Port of Salina Cruz.

Salina Cruz LNG will use domestic Mexican gas supply from the Veracruz gulf region to access new high-value markets along the Pacific Coast. These premium markets include: LNG marine fuel deliveries at the Pacific entry of the Panama Canal and into Southern California (the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles), sales into Central American power markets, and trucked volumes in the local region of southwestern Mexico.