Main Pass Energy Hub News

United LNG, LP and Petronet LNG Limited, India's largest LNG importer, agree to supply LNG from the Main Pass Energy Hub™ project in the Gulf of Mexico. The (conditional) agreement was signed by Petronet LNG Managing Director & CEO, Dr. A.K. Balyan and Stephen Payne, Chairman & General Partner of United LNG, of the United States, at the LNG 17 Conference held in Houston, Texas. The parties said they would continue working toward a final Sales Purchase Agreement to conclude the purchase and sale by the year's end.

Industry consortium wants to utilize McMoRan’s Main Pass Energy Hub™ (MPEH™) as a potential deepwater port facility. United LNG, LP, and Freeport-McMoRan Energy LLC (FME), a subsidiary of McMoRan Exploration Co, are engaged in efforts to utilize McMoRan’s Main Pass Energy Hub™ (MPEH™) as a potential Deepwater Port facility to receive, store, condition, and liquefy domestic natural gas for export as liquefied natural gas (LNG). Natural gas would be received by pipeline at MPEH™, processed, and then transferred to on-site floating vessels for liquefaction and offloading to LNG transport vessels for export to foreign locations. On January 4…

McMoRan Exploration Co. said MarAd approved McMoRan's license application for its Main Pass Energy Hub(TM) (MPEH(TM)) project. MARAD concluded in the Record of Decision that construction and operation of MPEH(TM) deepwater port will be in the national interest and consistent with national security and other national policy goals and objectives, including energy sufficiency and environmental quality. a vital role in meeting national energy requirements for many years to come and that the port's offshore deepwater location will help reduce congestion and enhance safety in receiving LNG cargoes to the U.S. MARAD's approval and issuance of the Deepwater Port license for MPEH(TM) is subject to various terms…

Petroleum producer McMoRan Exploration Co. has received final approval for a $1 b liquefied natural gas project off Louisiana's coast, including storage caverns in an offshore salt dome, the company announced Thursday. The go-ahead from MarAd was the last needed for the Main Pass Energy Hub, sources said. The record accompanying the decision was 46 pages long and outlines requirements that will be put into the license. The facility will handle imported natural gas that has been liquefied in order to take up less space and be more easily transported by tankers. In the LNG process, natural gas is chilled to -256 degrees Fahrenheit, turning it from a gas to a liquid, and moved into heavily insulated storage tanks.

McMoRan Exploration Co. announced the publication of the Environmental Assessment (EA) and Draft Finding of No Significant Impact by the United States Coast Guard (Coast Guard) and the Maritime Administration (MarAd) for the Main Pass Energy Hub (MPEH) LNG license application. The Coast Guard issued a public notice on September 19, 2006, establishing a timeline for a record of decision on the project, including public hearings to be held during the week of October 2, 2006. Comments on the application, including from the Governors of adjacent coastal states (Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama), are required by November 20, 2006, and a record of decision would be issued by January 3, 2007.

Freeport-McMoRan Exploration Co. is one step closer to obtaining a deep port license to regasify one billion cu. ft. of natural gas per day at one of its former offshore sulfur mines. The U.S. Coast Guard all but approved the request, citing “sufficient information” to continue processing the application. Once approved, McMoRan’s former $1b offshore sulfur mines will receive a $450m facelift to convert the platforms to regasify liquefied natural gas and then ship it to onshore pipelines. McMoRan amended its license application with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration May 31 to obtain approval of its Main Pass Energy Hub project using closed loop technology.

McMoRan Exploration Co. has received correspondence from the U.S. Coast Guard regarding the remaining steps to be completed to obtain a Deepwater Port License for its Main Pass Energy Hub (MPEHTM) project. This information confirms McMoRan's expectation that the work completed to date will enable an expeditious processing of our license application. McMoRan submitted an amendment to its license application with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration (MARAD) on May 31 to obtain approval of its Main Pass Energy Hub project using Closed Loop technology. On July 21, the Coast Guard advised McMoRan that the information provided…

Gov. Kathleen Blanco late on May 5 vetoed a proposed offshore natural gas port over concerns that fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico could be harmed. Blanco had until May 7 to file any objections to a proposed federal license for the Main Pass Energy Hub, a liquefied natural gas terminal being sought by Freeport McMoRan Energy LLC, a subsidiary of New Orleans-based McMoRan Exploration Co. "Until studies demonstrate that the operation of the open rack vaporizer will not have an unacceptable impact on the surrounding ecosystem, I will only support LNG terminals using a closed loop system having negligible impacts to marine life," Blanco said in a letter sent on May 5 to Julie A. Nelson, acting deputy maritime administrator and chief counsel for the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The Maritime Administration (MARAD) issued a Notice stating that the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for the proposed Main Pass Energy Hub deepwater port (DWP) liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility is available for review and comment. Public meetings will be held in Grand Bay, Alabama (March 21); Pascagoula, Mississippi (March 22); and New Orleans, Louisiana (March 23). Written comments should be submitted by April 24. Source: HK Law