With imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) expected to take on a bigger role in U.S. energy markets, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham plans to tour the soon-to-be-reactivated Cove Point LNG terminal in eastern Maryland today to become acquainted first-hand with the frozen fuel that is attracting so much attention.

Abraham is due to tour the facility on July 21 at 10 a.m., according to the Department of Energy (DOE). The Cove Point terminal, which has been mothballed for years, could begin commercial operation as early as August.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission earlier this month gave Dominion Cove Point LNG LP, which owns the facility, conditional approval to receive a single test cargo of LNG in late July. The receipt of a test cargo is one of the final steps prior to the commercial start-up of the LNG terminal (see NGI, July 14).

FERC said its approval was conditioned on Dominion Cove Point first completing the construction of certain systems and associated equipment, complying with Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations, providing “air gaps” between a flammable fluid system and electrical conduit or wiring systems, and the LNG terminal undergoing a final inspection by FERC’s Office of Energy Projects prior to the arrival of a test LNG cargo.

The Commission further noted that its authorization only covered the receipt of the test LNG cargo, not the commencement of service at the Cove Point facility.

In a report to FERC last week, Dominion Cove Point said that “525 people [were] typically working seven, eleven-hour days a week” to complete reactivation of the terminal. Still, it said the work was “slightly behind projected schedule,” with the entire LNG project approximately 90% complete at this stage.

Cove Point, when it becomes operational, will be the fourth active LNG import terminal in the continental U.S. The other facilities are located in Everett, MA (Boston Harbor), Lake Charles, LA, and Elba Island, GA.

The LNG industry in the United States “has until recently occupied a small niche in the domestic natural gas market, but LNG imports are expected to help fill a growing gap between domestic gas production and consumption,” the DOE said in a press statement. Experts expect LNG to assume a prominent role in the U.S. gas markets in the years ahead, fulfilling demand needs that producers can’t meet.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan earlier this month said LNG could become the “ultimate safety valve” for the country if long-standing environmental conflicts are not resolved so that U.S. producers can expand gas supplies (see NGI, July 14).

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