Both California and Mexico are committed to giving proponents of liquefied natural gas (LNG) import projects a chance to make their cases for new receiving terminals, but it is still unclear how many and where (on-land or offshore) those facilities will be built, according to government energy officials who spoke this week at a conference in Long Beach, CA.

For more than a year, a dozen California state agencies with a piece of the LNG permitting process have met in a “LNG Permitting Interagency Working Group” as a means of “committing to have an effective response” to any terminal permit applications that currently number two but will soon be four, said David Maul, natural gas projects manager at the California Energy Commission.

“We also have worked very closely with the federal agencies,” Maul said. “We have FERC fly its team out to meet with us, and the Coast Guard fly its team out. We have committed to do joint environmental review documents. We want to make sure we minimize the resource impact on the developers, the public and ourselves.”

Regarding the question “Is LNG coming to California?” Maul said he doesn’t know the answer. “Our job is to lay out a framework for policy and action that allows LNG to be considered on an equal footing with all of the other supply and infrastructure options so it can be evaluated. If it is the best choice, it will be developed.”

In Mexico, an LNG receiving terminal (Altamira) in pretty much assured because it is tied to a network of new power plants being built by Mexico’s government electricity provider, according to Alejandro Buena de la Rosa, director general for natural gas at Mexico’s equivalent of FERC, the Comision Reguladora de Energia (CRE). But in North Baja “the market will decide,” along with local permitting and environmental issues.

De la Rosa reiterated that natural gas use for electric generation was going to continue on a rapid growth path of more than 12% annually in Mexico while the current dominant generating fuel — oil — will continue a steep decline. Gas is expected to move from its current position of just under 30% of the power generation load to providing nearly 60% of all electricity. And one of the fastest growing areas for increased energy demand with be in the northwestern corner of the country along the international border.

He also noted that an application for a fifth new LNG receiving terminal site along the southern Pacific Coast of mainland Mexico at the port of Lazaro Cardenas is due soon, but did not disclose the developer.

Earlier at the “Pacific Coast LNG Development” conference, an executive with ChevronTexaco predicted that his company’s proposed offshore North Baja LNG receiving terminal ultimately will be the first one built on the West Coast, even though it has yet to get any federal or local permits in Mexico, and doesn’t expect CRE approval until this spring.

Michael Christensen, ChevronTexaco’s multi-facilities project manager, said the proposed LNG site offshore Baja near Coronado Island provides access to the company’s “stranded gas” in Australia. He reiterated that ChevronTexaco has a memorandum of understanding for its needed supply of LNG. “We’re working with the Mexican authorities to secure all of our permits, and at least we have all of our applications submitted.”

Christensen said the company is on track to get its Mexican approvals in the second quarter and begin construction of a 700 MMcf/d facility by the end of the fourth quarter this year.

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