Sempra Energy’s Cameron (previously Hackberry) LNG terminal on the Gulf Coast received its final approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Thursday for the construction of a 1.5 Bcf/d LNG receiving terminal on the site of an old petroleum gas facility on the Calcasieu Ship Channel in Louisiana.

The approval came in the form of a final environmental impact statement (FEIS), which found that construction of the terminal would have limited adverse environmental impact which could be mitigated. Sempra’s construction plans — estimated to cost $700 million — include a 2007 in-service date. The FEIS noted, however, that Cameron LNG still must file for its Coastal Use Permit from the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources.

Plans for terminal include an unloading slip large enough for two ships, three LNG storage tanks each with a usable volume of 1,006,000 barrels of liquid (3.5 Bcf), pumps, vaporizers, a compressor, a natural gas liquids recovery unit and a 35.4 mile, 36-inch diameter natural gas sendout pipeline.

The terminal, first announced in July 2001 under the name Hackberry by Dynegy Inc., was purchased by Sempra in April 2003 for $20 million initially and additional contingent payments based on the performance of the project. Thanks to an earlier FERC order the terminal will offer open access, non-discriminatory LNG terminaling services, including the receipt of imported LNG from ocean-going tankers and the storage and vaporization of LNG. In addition, the proposed facility will provide transportation of vaporized LNG from the tailgate of the terminal to the U.S. pipeline grid (see Daily GPI, Dec. 19, 2002).

The order was a departure for the Commission which agreed to move “open access” regulation downstream of all LNG import terminals to plant tailgates where gas is delivered into interstate pipeline systems. In the future, FERC will treat LNG facilities as the functional equivalent of natural gas production facilities, over which it has no open access jurisdiction, and allow them to charge market-based rates for terminal services. FERC’s move was aimed at encouraging investment in additional LNG facilities.

The Cameron terminal is the first new LNG terminal approved for construction in the United States in 25 years. It will have the capacity to receive and vaporize 750 MMcf/d initially and be expanded to 1.5 Bcf/d later (see Daily GPI, May 31, 2002).

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