BP Crown Landing LLC, which suffered a major setback to its plans to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal along the Delaware River at the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year, has suspended those plans.

The decision to suspend the $700 million project was largely market-driven, a company official told the South Jersey News. The company felt that it was “very unlikely” that LNG cargoes would be delivered to the United States in the foreseeable future and noted much higher natural gas prices in Asia, according to the newspaper account.

In April the U.S. Supreme Court threw a wrench into Crown Landing’s project plans when it ruled that the state of Delaware had the authority to block the construction of an off-loading pier that would serve the LNG terminal proposed in Logan Township, NJ (see Daily GPI, April 1). Delaware opposed the construction of the pier, and it gained the power to halt the entire LNG project through the decision. In light of the court’s ruling, a spokesman for BP Crown Landing LLC said the company was exploring a “variety of options” for the LNG terminal (see Daily GPI, April 2).

The 410-mile river constitutes part of the boundary between Pennsylvania and New York, the entire boundary between New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and most of the boundary between Delaware and New Jersey.

In August 2005 New Jersey petitioned the high court to settle an ongoing boundary dispute with the state of Delaware that was reignited when Crown Landing proposed building the off-loading pier along the Delaware River (see Daily GPI, Aug. 4, 2005).

New Jersey’s action was fueled by Delaware’s assertion of regulatory jurisdiction over the construction of the proposed pier. By claiming it had jurisdiction over a portion of New Jersey’s side of the river, Delaware in February 2005 denied a permit to Crown Landing for the construction of the proposed pier (see Daily GPI, Feb. 4, 2005). It said the proposed pier, which would extend into the Delaware River, was prohibited by Delaware’s coastal zone laws.

The pier would be used to transfer LNG from tankers in the Delaware River to storage and regasification facilities in New Jersey. BP’s plans called for an import terminal with sendout capability of 1.2 Bcf/d that was targeted for service in 2009.

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