Gulf Lng

US FERC OKs LNG Projects in Mississippi

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday gave final approval to two liquefied natural gas import terminals along the Mississippi coast. The LNG Clean Energy Project, located in the Port of Pascagoula, will be able to send out up to 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas a day. The $450m terminal, which will be owned by the Houston-based private investor group Gulf LNG Energy LLC, will be able to handle 150 LNG tankers a year. Separately, Chevron Corp's Casotte Landing LNG project will be located next to the company's Pascagoula refinery and will process imported LNG for distribution to industrial, commercial and residential customers in Mississippi and the Southeast region, including the growing Florida market. The terminal will be able to send out 1.6 billion cubic feet of LNG a day. Both LNG terminals are expected to be in service in 2009. The United States must import more LNG over the next 15 years to keep up with growing natural gas demand, especially from power plants. LNG is natural gas altered for transportation aboard special tankers. The gas, when cooled to minus 259 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 162 Celsius), changes into a liquid and shrinks to less than 1/600 of its original volume. Upon arrival at a terminal, the LNG is returned to a gaseous state and fed into pipelines to take to homes and industries nationwide.

FERC Requires Pre-Filing Process for New LNG Projects

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission adopted a final rule requiring potential developers of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals to initiate pre-filing procedures at least six months prior to filing a formal application with the Commission. Initiating the rulemaking was the Commission’s first formal action under the recently enacted Energy Policy Act of 2005. The new law requires the Commission to issue within 60 days of the law’s August 8, 2005

Qatar to Initiate 45 Contracts for LNG

Qatar will initiate 45 shipbuilding contracts for the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships ever constructed, by Q1, 2007, the Gulf Times reported. Qatargas said the total value of the LNG tankers fleet Qatar planned to procure would exceed $11b. It said Qatar is taking LNG ship design to new level by introducing a 215,000m3 vessel, Q-Flex, and even a larger version, Q–Max, with a 265,000m3 capacity. The dimensions of the Q-Max vessels are approximately that of a modern Very

Court Ipholds LNG DWP License

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the decision of the Secretary of Transportation to grant a license for the construction and operation of the Gulf Landing LNG DWP in the Gulf of Mexico. Plaintiffs had challenged the decision, asserting that the environmental impact statement (EIS) was deficient and that the Secretary should have required the use of a "closed loop" system for warming the liquefied natural gas (LNG)

LNG Industry Defends Offshore Project Technology

The Center for Liquefied Natural Gas (CLNG) supports the use of open-loop vaporization (OLV) systems proposed in LNG terminals in the Gulf of Mexico, calling it a proven and environmentally sound technology predominately used in more than 40 LNG import terminals throughout the world. Environmental impact statements (EIS) issued by the U.S. Coast Guard conclude that offshore LNG facilities will have only minor adverse impacts

TORP Files for Terminal License

TORP (Terminal Offshore Regas Plant) filed its application with the US Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration (MARAD) on January 12, 2006 for a license under the Deep Water Port Act, to build, own and operate an LNG receiving terminal in the Gulf of Mexico. TORP’s BIENVILLE Offshore Energy Terminal will be located approximately 63 miles south of Dauphin Island, Alabama, in 425 ft of water, and will be the first to utilize the HiLoad Technology for cost-effective offloading of LNG

Port Dolphin Files Deepwater Port Application with Coast Guard

Port Dolphin Energy LLC, a wholly owned US subsidiary of the Norwegian based company Höegh LNG AS, has submitted an application to the U.S. Coast Guard for approval to build and operate a deep water port for the import of natural gas to Florida's west coast. The proposed project will consist of: two submerged turret unloading and mooring buoys (STL type) to receive an average of up to 800 million cubic feet per day of natural gas from LNG Shuttle and Regasification Vessels (SRVs)

Al Bidda Named Best Ship

Qatargas has chosen its LNG carrier Al Bidda for the Best Ship Award, which it has instituted to assess its fleet of ten vessels, which are on a long-term charter for supply of gas to Japan. Al Bidda is owned by Mitsui OSK Line and its captain H Yoshimara received the award from Qatargas head of shipping operations Anthony Browning. Qatargas said the inspection format was thorough and intensive in order to establish whether a LNG vessel was of a sufficiently high standard to be invited to

LNG to be Delivered

According to officials from ExxonMobil Corporation, the LNG from Qatar will be delivered to the Gulf Coast to a terminal that is currently under construction on the border between Texas and Louisiana which connects it to major pipelines networks from which the gas can reach anywhere in the US. It is said that some of the LNG will be primarily consumed locally because of the large gas demand in the State of Texas and can also be delivered for consumption all the way up to the East Coast

Chevron LNG Plan Advances

According to reports, Chevron Corp. cleared a hurdle in its quest to develop the multibillion-dollar Gorgon LNG project off Australia's western coast after agreeing to support environmental programs to protect a vulnerable species of turtle and other wildlife. The Gorgon venture, which is led by San Ramon-based Chevron, will provide about $26 million to conserve the flatback turtle, the state of Western Australia said.