Conference to Examine Global LNG Marketplace

Zeus Development Corporation announces the organization of a conference, March 12-14, 2003, in Los Angeles, to consider the implications of West Coast terminals for the global LNG industry. "With numerous onshore and offshore terminal proposals under evaluation on the West Coast by ChevronTexaco, Marathon, Shell, Mitsubishi, El Paso and others, the LNG industry will likely drive the golden spike in its circumference of the globe this decade," said Bob Nimocks, president of Zeus Development Corporation. "The Atlantic and the Pacific basins will become more integrated with the Henry Hub lying between." California consumes nearly 50 million metric tons of natural gas annually and is anxious to diversify its energy supply. With an established pipeline grid, the West Coast offers a far more liquid market than Japan, Korea and Taiwan, which have led the industry for more than 30 years with LNG projects closely tied to power production. The conference will examine how the dynamics of contracts, pricing and the whole LNG business model will change in the Pacific once North America begins importing LNG from the west, and how West Coast markets will change as a result of the new gas supplies, some of which may come via Mexico. An optional half-day workshop and harbor tour will precede the conference, Wednesday, March 12, to provide a review of the current and planned LNG infrastructure in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, recent pricing trends and an overview of western gas transmission and distribution infrastructure. Then, the main conference will feature perspectives from authorities around the world on the impact of added demand to the Pacific and Indian Ocean LNG industries and supply to the western North American pipeline grid. The implications of new delivery concepts, including North American price indexing, shorter-term and more flexible contracts, spot cargoes and swaps, environmental and security issues, and new technologies, such as El Paso's Energy Bridge concept, will be considered.