Backers of the proposed Oregon-based Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas (LNG) project are confident they will have all the necessary federal, state and local approvals by late 2010 to begin construction of their terminal and connecting interstate gas pipeline.

If FERC approval comes by the end of this month, Project Manager Bob Braddock said Jordan Cove could have something to report regarding future LNG supply deals before the end of this year.

“It was just a matter of time, so we thought we wanted to remind the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [FERC] that we’re ready, and we can get on the Sept. 18 commission meeting docket,” said Braddock, who runs the Oregon operations for the limited partnership of an affiliate of Alberta-based Fort Chicago Energy Partners LP and Energy Projects Development LLC. The facility would be built at the international port of Coos Bay, OR.

Braddock told NGI Thursday that he expects a favorable, albeit conditioned, FERC decision on the terminal and related Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline LP (PCGP) projects, which are tied together. Draft and final environmental reviews of the project outlined more than 100 conditions.

“There may be a few more added, but we know what they are,” Braddock said. The FERC staff usually establishes them in the form of recommendations to the commissioners, he said.

Jordan Cove continues with the same financial plans, timetable and approach toward lining up a LNG supply source.

Noting he is expecting something favorable from FERC, Braddock said within 60 days of federal approval “we should be in a position to start to make announcements regarding substantive discussions, if not firm commitments, on LNG supplies.”

“We have a pretty good feel for when supply sources are looking to have a facility in service,” Braddock said. “We have a permit request for the terminal and pipeline working its way through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and that will take through next June to complete. That should be the last federal action, and by then we expect all the state and local actions would be locked up as well.”

Ultimately, the market will decide when and if there is one or multiple LNG terminals along the West Coast, Braddock said. Qualifying it as his own personal opinion, Braddock said he only sees room for one project going ahead, and he said he is confident Jordan Cove will be the one to serve markets in both the Northwest and California.

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