Exxon Mobil Corp. has doubled its development plans for liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminals in Texas, announcing Thursday that an affiliate is developing a $600 million LNG terminal near Corpus Christi. The proposed facility, which mirrors another one underway up the Texas coast, would process 1 Bcf/d of LNG.

In November, Exxon Mobil affiliate, Golden Pass LNG Terminal LP announced it had begun the permitting process with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on a potential receiving site in Texas near Sabine Pass, which is near Port Arthur on the upper Texas coast (see Daily GPI, Nov. 21, 2003).

The latest project, to be built by Vista del Sol LNG Terminal LP, would be located in San Patricio County in South Texas, about two miles west of Ingleside along the Gulf Coast. The terminal, which would process imported LNG for distribution throughout Texas and the United States, should take about three years to build and is expected to be operational by 2008 or 2009. Exxon Mobil said it had already initiated the FERC permitting process for this facility, which should take about 18 months.

“This is another important step in our plans to develop LNG receiving terminals on the U.S. Gulf Coast,” said Philip Dingle, president of ExxonMobil Gas and Power Marketing Co. “There is strong growth in natural gas demand projected in the future, and the import of LNG will be an important component of the supply mix.”

Exxon Mobil’s LNG supply is expected to come from Qatar. In October, Exxon Mobil and Qatar Petroleum announced a Heads of Agreement to supply 15.6 million tons a year of LNG, or 2 Bcf/d to the United States for 25 years (see Daily GPI, Oct. 17, 2003).

ExxonMobil also has optioned a potential LNG terminal site in Mobile Bay just outside the city limits of Mobile, AL, but has run into some state and local opposition (see related story, this issue).

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