Energy Companies Continue to Propose New LNG Terminals

November 24, 2004

Energy companies are continuing to pursue new projects to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) into the United States. In mid-November, Philadelphia Gas Works proposed building an LNG terminal along the Delaware River, and ChevronTexaco proposed building an LNG terminal at its refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi. LNG is the only practical way to import natural gas from overseas. See the press releases from Philadelphia Gas Works and ChevronTexaco.

With onshore LNG terminals facing some local opposition, companies are also turning toward offshore and international projects to import LNG into the United States. In late October, the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was released for a proposed LNG terminal located 14 miles off the coast of Ventura County, California, called the Cabrillo Port LNG Deepwater Port. In early November, TransCanada and Shell announced plans to build an LNG terminal in Long Island Sound, about 9 miles off the Long Island coast. And in mid-November, Tidelands Oil and Gas Corporation announced a preliminary design study to examine building an offshore LNG terminal in the Gulf of Mexico. Meanwhile, ChevronTexaco received its environmental permit in September for an LNG terminal off the coast of Baja California, Mexico, and El Paso Corporation applied in mid-November to build a natural gas pipeline from a proposed LNG terminal in the Bahamas to south Florida. See the draft EIS for the Cabrillo Port LNG terminal and the press releases from TransCanada, Tidelands Oil and Gas, ChevronTexaco, and El Paso.