ChevronTexaco (CVX) has applied to the U.S. Coast Guard for a deepwater port license in an ambitious scheme to construct and operate a liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving and regasification terminal in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GOM), which could be operational as soon as 2006.

The Port Pelican development would consist of a LNG ship receiving terminal, LNG storage and regasification facilities and pipeline interconnection to existing infrastructure to deliver natural gas into the domestic interstate gas pipeline network. The exact location was not detailed in the written statement by CVX.

CVX plans to construct Phase One of Port Pelican as an offshore facility, initially designed to process approximately 800 MMcf/d. The facility would connect to the company’s extensive offshore infrastructure to deliver natural gas to the U.S. Gulf Coast. Using existing gas supply and gathering systems in the GOM and southern Louisiana, gas would then be delivered to shippers using the national pipeline grid. Phase Two would expand the terminal to accommodate a total of 1,600 MMcf/d.

The design codes and standards applicable to Port Pelican construction and operation will meet or exceed the accepted industry practice for offshore facilities, concrete construction and LNG regasification processing, including U.S. and European standards, according to CVX. The application followed a 16-month technical and commercial evaluation of a LNG receiving and regasification terminal in the GOM.

Audie Setters, general manager of the CVX Overseas Petroleum’s International Gas Group, said the project is part of the company’s long-term commitment to supplying more efficient sources of energy to North America. “We are excited about the prospects for growth of the natural gas business and this LNG receiving and regasification terminal is integral to the company’s larger natural gas strategy,” he said.

In August, CVX and partner BG received approval to deliver 80 MMcf/d from Trinidad to Southern LNG ‘s Elba Island re-gasification terminal in Georgia beginning in 2005 and continuing through 2023 (see Daily GPI, Aug. 22). The producers received approval from the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries to develop Dolphin Deep and Starfish fields offshore the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The fields will supply a long-term LNG contract with El Paso Merchant Energy to import LNG into the U.S. market.

The CVX executive team laid out an ambitious plan last June to grow its natural gas business by mid-decade with more core exploration and more development of its substantial reserves that will include, among other things, LNG regasification terminals along the West Coast and East Coast, as well as expanded exploration and production in shelf and deepwater Gulf of Mexico prospects (see Daily GPI, June 20).

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