Syngas Energy Holdings LLC plans to spend $360 million to develop a methanol plant in St. James Parish, LA, on the west bank of the Mississippi River. The site was chosen, in part, because of the availability of natural gas feedstock for the plant. Construction could begin during the second quarter with completion expected by the end of 2018. Initial methanol capacity would be 500,000 metric tons per year. Syngas said it will buy 130 acres from NuStar Energy, which operates a crude oil terminal and logistics complex on the Mississippi River with a capacity of 11 million bbl. NuStar also has storage and shipping capabilities for specialty liquids, such as methanol, at the St. James site, where NuStar will provide rail and barge transportation services for the Syngas project. Syngas plans to build additional storage capacity on its site for truck shipping of its product. Syngas was formed in 2012 to develop, build and operate alternative energy projects using both renewable and fossil fuels. Its first project is the methanol plant. Louisiana has attracted other methanol projects as well (see Daily GPI, July 8; Oct. 10, 2014; July 18, 2014).

Columbia Gas Transmission LLC has asked theFederal Energy Regulatory Commission for authorization to begin service on a segment of the second phase of its Line MB Extension Project, from mile post (MP) 7.9 to 10.6 and from MP 12.4 to 16.0, on Monday (Oct. 26) [CP13-8]. The Line MB Extension is a system enhancement, adding 21-miles of new pipeline along the existing Line MA pipeline in Baltimore and Harford counties, MD.

The first of more than one-dozen meetings across Alaska for FERC to gather input from the public on the Alaska LNG project will be held Tuesday (Oct. 27) evening in Nikiski, site of the project’s proposed natural gas liquefaction plant and marine terminal. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has scheduled hearings statewide to hear from the public on issues citizens want addressed in the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the gas pipeline and liquefied natural gas plant. The series of meetings will end with sessions in Anchorage and Fairbanks on Nov. 19. FERC is in charge of the EIS for the project, and the upcoming meetings are part of the EIS scoping process. Public comment on the EIS itself is to come later, after FERC and its contractor draft the environmental review based on information from the project sponsors and regulatory agencies. All of the meetings are scheduled to start at 6 p.m. local time and will end “once all speakers have provided their comments, or at 9 p.m., whichever comes first,” FERC said. For more information, view FERC’s first (Oct. 8) and second (Oct. 21) meeting notices in Docket PF14-21.