Liquefied

North America’s largest liquefied natural gas terminal isgetting bigger — CMS Energy officials confirmed yesterday theywill expand the Lake Charles, LA, terminal within a few months iffederal approval is received. The LNG facility, which now producesup to 700 MMcf/d could eventually increase its daily production to1.25 Bcf/d, CEO William McCormick said during a morning pressbriefing.

In another indication that liquefied natural gas could becomemore than a niche fuel in North America, San Francisco-basedChevron said yesterday it is “reviewing options” for importing LNGto serve the West Coast. If the project proves economically viable,Chevron said its first supplies could arrive by 2005.

Houston-based El Paso Corp. signed a letter of intent last week to purchase liquefied natural gas from a new Australian LNG production facility to be built by Phillips Petroleum Co., which would provide up to 4.8 million tons of LNG beginning in 2005 for North American markets. El Paso and Phillips expect to complete a definitive agreement on the deal by mid-year.

Williams’ proposal to reactivate the mothballed Cove Pointliquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and associated facilities inCalvert County, MD, is coming under fire from all quarters -potential distribution customers and the state.

Royal Dutch/Shell said yesterday it expects to have plans inplace by this July to export liquefied natural gas to the UnitedStates and southern Europe from Egypt. Egypt has enough gasreserves to commit 10 Tcf to 15 Tcf to export, said Shell.

North America’s largest liquefied natural gas terminal is getting bigger — CMS Energy officials confirmed last week they will expand the Lake Charles, LA terminal within a few months if federal approval is received. The LNG facility, which now produces up to 700 MMcf/d could eventually increase its daily production to 1.25 Bcf/d, CEO William McCormick said.

In what would be the smallest of the four existing liquefied natural gas terminals in the United States, El Paso Merchant Energy got the go-ahead on a three-year lease option to build a facility on Radio Island in North Carolina. The North Carolina State Ports Authority unanimously approved the deal last week.

In what would be the smallest of the four existing liquefiednatural gas terminals in the United States, El Paso Merchant Energygot the go-ahead on a three-year lease option to build a facilityon Radio Island in North Carolina. The North Carolina State PortsAuthority unanimously approved the deal last week.

To capitalize on the growing liquefied natural gas market,Houston-based El Paso Energy Corp. said it would spend $1.5 billionover the next five years to build six LNG terminals for NorthAmerican markets. The six proposed projects include three in theUnited States, two in Mexico and one in the Bahamas, with fiveserving the U.S. marketplace.