Attention

In a move that drew widespread local news media attention, the Long Beach, CA, City Council last Tuesday at the last minute postponed until late June a decision on whether to break off two years of negotiations on behalf of its municipal energy department with the sponsors of a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal in its harbor.

In a move that drew widespread local news media attention, the Long Beach, CA, City Council Tuesday evening at the last minute postponed until late next month a decision on whether to break off two years of negotiations on behalf of its municipal energy department with the sponsors of a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal in its harbor.

While the public scuffling between pro and con factions gain most of the attention, the key to the eventual development of Sound Energy Solution’s (SES) LNG import terminal in the Port of Long Beach, CA, is an environmental impact review (EIR) currently in “administrative draft” form, according to Robert Kanter, the Port’s planning director. The EIR should be released for public comment by mid-June, he said.

While the public scuffling between pro and con factions gain most of the attention, the key to plans for a unit of Mitsubishi and ConocoPhillips building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the Port of Long Beach, CA, is an environmental impact assessment currently in “administrative draft” form, according to the port official in charge of getting the work done. It should be released for public comment by mid-June, said Robert Kanter, Ph.D., the Port’s planning director.

Looking to keep attention on natural gas supply from Alaska’s North Slope, the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority (ANGDA) is seeking state permission to build a spur pipeline from the proposed North Slope to Valdez long line to route supplies to the Cook Inlet Basin. The spur would be built through state land from Glennallen to Palmer, AK.

Looking to keep attention on natural gas supply from Alaska’s North Slope, the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority (ANGDA) is seeking state permission to build a spur pipeline from the proposed North Slope to Valdez long line to route supplies to the Cook Inlet Basin. The spur would be built through state land from Glennallen to Palmer, AK.

As Frances was breaking apart over Georgia and the Carolinas Tuesday, all eyes in the gas market quickly turned to Hurricane Ivan, which the National Hurricane Center (NHC) indicated may take a track similar to, but more westerly than, recent Hurricane Charley into the eastern Gulf of Mexico, possibly disrupting gas and oil production.

With a new budget finally put in place in California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger turned his attention to energy issues but got off to a rocky start last Monday with a news report quoting local government officials, environmental groups and consumer activists blasting the governor’s cabinet members for taking an 11-day trip with energy company executives to Australia and South Korea to visit liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities.

While rising gasoline prices have captured the attention of Capitol Hill and the mainstream media in past weeks, the spurt in gasoline costs is “nearly inconsequential” when compared to the sharp run-up in natural gas prices over the past years, said the American Chemistry Council (ACC) President Greg Lebedev on Thursday.