Already conditionally certified at FERC and with longer-term plans to become an import-export facility, the Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas (LNG) project along the south-central Oregon coast won a key state approval Wednesday. It has broader implications for the coastal port overall, as well as the LNG project pursued by a group headed by Fort Chicago Energy Partners.

Oregon’s Department of State Lands approved a permit for the development of an access channel and multi-purpose vessel slip on the North Spit of Coos Bay, boosting the hopes of the Port of Coos Bay, which is an supporter of the project for its potential job creation and value to the port’s resurgence.

“With this permit in hand we don’t see any other large permit issues at the state level,” Jordan Cove Project Manager Bob Braddock told NGI Friday. “This issue for the port is probably the biggest state-issued permit for the project. The port had to work very hard preparing a compelling case for approval.”

The LNG project, including its Federal Energy Regulatory Commission-certified 230-mile transmission pipeline, still has state and local air and water permitting to complete, but Braddock does not anticipate any problems in those areas.

Port Commission President David Kronsteiner said the permit allows the port to site multi-purpose cargo terminals west of the railroad and highway bridges, leading into Coos Bay. This “positions the port to quickly accommodate larger vessels as the industry evolves,” he said, adding that it also will add to more navigation safety and efficiency.

Construction of the slip and channel access would occur over 18 months and create an estimated 75 construction jobs and 195 indirect support jobs, producing an estimated payroll of $26.2 million over that time, Kronsteiner said. Longer-term, shipping through the two berths could support as many as 280 direct jobs and as many as 173 indirect jobs for an annual payroll of between $4.7 million to $26.7 million.

The state Lands Department’s approval comes with the backdrop of another part of state government — the attorney general’s office — challenging Jordan Cove at FERC over the project’s move to become an export facility (see Daily GPI, Dec. 8). Earlier this month the project received a preliminary favor export ruling from the U.S. Department of Energy (see Daily GPI, Dec. 9).

Under the state land permit, the slip at Coos Bay will accommodate two berthing areas, one for Jordan Cove LNG, and a second for other cargo traffic.

©Copyright 2011Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.