Sempra LNG mulls US natural gas export plant

* Sempra may build US LNG liquefaction plant

* Wants another party to shoulder risks of export

* Low US gas prices make natgas export attractive

* Sempra cautious about prospects of natgas export

By Edward McAllister

NEW YORK, June 7 (Reuters) - Sempra Energy (SRE.N) is mulling plans to build a U.S. natural gas export plant, but the company is cautious about the economic benefits of shipping domestic gas overseas, it said on Tuesday.

San Diego-based Sempra, which owns liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals in Louisiana and Baja California, is considering export as record domestic gas production pressures prices far below global levels.

It would be the latest in a string of LNG export projects proposed in North America over the past year, aiming to sell cheap U.S. gas to thirsty importers in Europe, Asia and South America.

"Sempra LNG would consider building a liquefaction facility for those who have a long-term view of the U.S. gas market, as long as they are willing to shoulder the market risks," a Sempra spokeswoman said, declining to comment whether the company was in discussions with third parties interested in export.

A liquefaction plant cools natural gas to liquid form for transport overseas in specially designed tankers.

Sempra already has approval to re-export previously imported cargoes from its Cameron terminal, but this trade does not require liquefaction facilities.

A number of LNG importers in the United States have applied for permits to build liquefaction plants on the site of existing import terminals. The about turn has been prompted by massive increases in shale gas production, thanks to new drilling and extraction techniques, which have gradually eroded U.S. LNG import needs since 2007.

The United States was expected to be a major LNG importer before shale gas unexpectedly revolutionized the U.S. gas market, leaving brand new terminals sitting idle across the Gulf Coast.

Cheniere Energy (LNG.A) has Department of Energy approval to export LNG from the site of its Sabine Pass import terminal in Louisiana and is waiting for regulatory approval to build a liquefaction plant.

Freeport LNG has applied for an export license from its terminal in Texas, and Southern Union and BG Group (BG.L) have similar plans for the Lake Charles import site in Louisiana. [ID:nN10179854]

LOW US GAS PRICES

The export plans are driven largely by slumping U.S. gas prices compared with European and Asian benchmarks. U.S. gas futures NGc1 -- pressured by oversupply -- were at $4.80 per million British thermal units on Tuesday, about half those of British gas prices </GM2NBN1>, and nearly $10 below spot Asian LNG prices LNG-AS near $14.

The key for some of these projects is to find investors willing to bet that the spread will remain wide, and therefore profitable for shippers, over the 25 years of a project.

Sempra is cautious. "Building a liquefaction facility in the U.S. ... only makes sense if prices in the U.S. remain significantly lower than Europe or Asia for the long term," the spokeswoman said.

(Reporting by Edward McAllister; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)