Calgary-based Veresen Inc. announced Wednesday that affiliate Jordan Cove Energy Project LP has filed an application with FERC to construct and operate a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility on the West Coast within the international Port of Coos Bay, OR.

The company said it expects to receive a certificate from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to allow it to construct and operate the liquefaction facility one year from the date of filing. Jordan Cove officials expect construction to begin by the end of September 2014 (see Daily GPI, May 17).

The proposed Jordan Cove project, which has an initial liquefaction design capacity of 1 Bcf/d, would meet growing demand for LNG by providing direct access to natural gas reserves in Western Canada and the U.S. Rockies primarily through existing pipeline and gas gathering networks. The gas would be exported to markets throughout the Asia Pacific, South America, Hawaii and Alaska.

LNG demand in the Asian Pacific markets is expect to exceed 300 metric tons a year by 2025, according to Veresen.

In December 2011, Jordan Cove won approval from the Department of Energy (DOE) to export LNG to free-trade agreement (FTA) nations (see Daily GPI, Dec. 9, 2011). However, the order did not include exports to major Pacific Rim gas market countries such as China and Japan. Jordan Cove is awaiting DOE action on its March 2012 application to export gas to countries that don’t have domestic FTAs, or non-FTAs.

The DOE has slow-walked export application approvals for gas exports to non-FTA nations so far. It conditionally approved a second application last Friday for the Freeport LNG Terminal on Quintana Island, TX to export up to 1.4 Bcf/d of LNG to non-FTA countries (see Daily GPI, May 20). The department took this action within 24 hours of Ernest Moniz being confirmed as the new DOE secretary.

Giving the process another shot in the arm, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), chairman of the Senate Energy and Resources Committee, Tuesday called on DOE to update its application process for exports of LNG to reflect the country’s shale revolution (see Daily GPI, May 22). The current policy is based on the 1938 Natural Gas Act.

The FERC process, which addresses companies’ applications to build liquefaction facilities, isn’t exactly moving at lightning speed either. And for exports to move forward, a company will need the approval of both regulators.

A companion application by Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline LP is to be submitted within weeks to FERC to build a 234-mile, 36-inch diameter pipeline. The Pacific Connector, which is equally owned by Veresen and a subsidiary of Williams, would extend from the liquid trading hub of Malin, OR, to the Jordan Cove terminal and the South Dune power plant facilities, which are wholly owned by Veresen.

FERC last year launched a second environmental review of the Pacific Connector (see Daily GPI, June 8, 2012). The South Dune gas-fueled, combined-cycle power plant facilities would have a base-load capacity of 420 MW and sited adjacent to the LNG facility.

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