Environmental

Occidental Petroleum’s proposed Ingleside, TX, LNG terminal and associated San Patricio Pipeline were granted a favorable final environmental impact statement (FEIS) on Friday by FERC. The Commission said the 1 Bcf/d terminal, which would be located near Occidental’s chemical plant on Corpus Christi Bay, would have limited adverse impact on the environment if certain recommended mitigating measures are taken by the company.

San Antonio-based Tidelands Oil & Gas Corp. initiated the pre-filing process at FERC under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the United States portion of its proposed Burgos Hub Export/Import Project, which is expected to lead to development of Mexico’s first natural gas market hub, gas storage field and offshore Gulf of Mexico liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal.

FERC voted Wednesday to issue a preliminary determination on non-environmental issues for Williams’ Northwest Pipeline to abandon 268 miles of a 26-inch, 50-year-old pipeline on its mainline in Washington state, starting at Sumas on the Canadian border, and replace the capacity with looping and compression along a parallel 30-inch line (CP05-32).

San Antonio-based Tidelands Oil & Gas Corp. initiated the pre-filing process at FERC under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the United States portion of its proposed Burgos Hub Export/Import Project, which is expected to lead to development of Mexico’s first natural gas market hub, gas storage field and offshore Gulf of Mexico liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal.

A consumer advocacy group and environmental organization last Monday urged FERC to deny a request by Dominion Cove Point LNG to exempt a 800 MMcf/d sendout capacity expansion of the company’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in eastern Maryland from the agency’s open-season and cost-of-service regulations.

A consumer advocacy group and environmental organization on Monday urged FERC to deny a request by Dominion Cove Point LNG to exempt a 800 MMcf/d sendout capacity expansion of the company’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in eastern Maryland from the agency’s open-season and cost-of-service regulations.

Sen James Inhofe (R-OK), chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, introduced two energy-related bills this week, one that says the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not have authority to regulate hydraulic fracturing under existing law, and a second that clarifies congressional intent in the 1987 amendments to the Clean Water Act that uncontaminated storm water discharges from oil and gas exploration, production, processing and treatment sites are exempt from the costly EPA storm water program.

Gas prices are expected to average $6.84/MMBtu this year and $7.08 this summer given normal weather, Energy and Environmental Analysis Inc. (EEA) said in its April Monthly Gas Update. The Arlington, VA-based consulting firm raised its 2005 gas price forecast by 15% this month in part because of the crude oil price spike, the cold weather in March and the impact those two factors had on natural gas.

As the Port of Long Beach, CA, 25 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, methodically works through the development of an environmental impact assessment, proponents and opponents of a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal in the harbor city continued to butt heads last weekend. A neutral city official in attendance said the confrontation was probably a draw in terms of the number of people on each side.