Guard

The Maritime Administration (MARAD) and the U.S. Coast Guard issued a notice in the Federal Register requesting comments on a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) on Suez’s proposed Neptune liquefied natural gas (LNG) deepwater port, which would be located about eight miles southeast of Gloucester, MA and 22 miles northeast of Boston. The project would include a subsea pipeline and a submerged buoy system that would surface to connect two cargo ships with onboard regasification. The 11-mile, 24-inch diameter pipeline would bring an average of 500 MMcf/d of regasified LNG to a connection with Algonquin’s HubLine pipeline in Boston Harbor. Construction would take about three years with commercial operation expected in 2009. The DEIS stated that using one pipeline system for the Neptune project and the competing Northeast Gateway offshore LNG project, sponsored by Excelerate Energy, would reduce the environmental impacts of both projects. The agencies considered the impacts of three proposed LNG import terminals: Neptune, Northeast Gateway and AES Battery Rock, which would be built on an island near the entrance to Boston Harbor. Public meetings on the Neptune DEIS will be held later this month in Massachusetts. For more information, go to MARAD’s website at http://www.marad.dot.gov/dwp/index.asp.

Canadian natural gas finding and development costs have tripled in the past 10 years, prompting an industry alert to guard against “hyperinflation.” The trend stood out as a surprise result of the latest in a periodic series of industry performance surveys commissioned by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

What 2006 will bring at FERC is a big unknown. But the year 2005 saw a smooth changing of the guard at FERC as Chairman Joseph Kelliher took over the reins from Pat Wood in mid-year, and was marked by key policy changes and clarifications on the natural gas side, along with agency approval of several key liquefied natural gas (LNG), pipeline and storage projects.

The year 2005 saw a smooth change of the guard at FERC as Chairman Joseph Kelliher took over the reins from Pat Wood in mid-year, and was marked by significant policy changes and clarifications on the natural gas side, along with agency approval of several key liquefied natural gas (LNG), pipeline and storage projects.

The U.S. Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced the cancellation of all actions related to the processing of a deepwater port license application for ExxonMobil’s proposed Pearl Crossing LNG Terminal offshore Louisiana. The action includes cancellation of all activities related to the preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS) and is in response to ExxonMobil’s decision to withdraw the application. The company said earlier this year that it would pursue development of its proposed onshore terminals, which already have received certification from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. ExxonMobil spokesman Bob Davis said the main concern with the offshore terminal was the controversy over the open rack vaporization process, which uses large amounts of sea water to vaporize the LNG and may have undesirable environmental consequences. In a Federal Register notice, MARAD said the cancellation of all actions related to the application was effective Oct. 19. The $1 billion LNG project would have been located 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana in West Cameron Block 220 and would have included a 1 Bcf/d pipeline to the coast.

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) called on Congress Friday to rush the “amphibious resources” of the Navy, Coast Guard and Army Corp of Engineers to southern Louisiana to help rebuild levies and get eight shut-down gas processing plants back into operation. That was just one of several actions, the ACC recommended to alleviate the natural gas supply problem and high gas prices, as two major chemical manufacturers raised the prices of their products.

While last week’s bearish storage report caught traders off guard, this week’s report of a 42 Bcf injection for the week ended July 22 was a little more in sync with expectations, especially considering last week’s oppressive heat and minor Gulf production shut-ins due to Hurricane Emily.

The Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration (MARAD) issued a Federal Register notice on Friday announcing the availability of a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) on Freeport-McMoRan Energy LLC’s proposed Main Pass Energy Hub liquefied natural gas (LNG) deepwater port license application. The port would be located in the Gulf of Mexico in Main Pass Lease Block 299 at a former sulphur mining facility about 16 miles southeast of Venice, LA, in a water depth of 210 feet. It would utilize four existing platforms, bridges and other structures and would include construction of two additional platforms to support LNG storage tanks (totaling 145,000 cubic meters) and a ship berthing area. The project also would include construction of 192 miles of 12-36 inch diameter pipelines. Main Pass Energy Hub would be developed over an existing salt formation in which storage caverns will be developed with a capacity to store 28 Bcf of natural gas. The terminal is expected to vaporize and deliver 1 Bcf/d of natural gas. Three public meetings will be held on the project on July 18, 19 and 20 in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. A copy of the DEIS is available at http://dms.dot.gov under docket number 17696.

After being cleared by FERC and the U.S. Coast Guard, the mothballed Cove Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the eastern shore of Maryland received its commissioning LNG shipment Friday.