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New Gulf LNG port, expansion approved Statoil starts shipping LNG from Snoehvit Arctic field as FERC approves new terminals to import gas for East Coast markets Allen Baker For Petroleum News
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved a new liquefied natural gas terminal on the Gulf Coast as well as an expansion of El Paso’s Elba Island port near Savannah, Ga. The approvals came Sept. 20.
Meanwhile, production began Sept. 21 at Statoil’s Snoehvit liquefaction plant, with first cargoes expected to depart in late September. The Snoehvit field is in the Barents Sea near the northern tip of Norway.
The $10 billion project will produce LNG equivalent to about 200 billion cubic feet of natural gas annually for the next 30 years.
Depending on the yield from the offshore field, a second train could be added to double shipments. Seabed wells are used to extract the gas, which is then piped to an onshore liquefaction plant.
Statoil operates the field and holds a one-third working interest. Other companies with major stakes in the project include French firms Total and Gaz de France, along with Hess. The field was discovered 24 years ago.
El Paso project The Sept. 20 FERC approvals allow El Paso Corp. units to expand the Elba Island terminal with new berthing facilities and other improvements that will increase the sendout capacity to 2.1 billion cubic feet daily. The plan includes new storage tanks that will more than double LNG storage capacity to the equivalent of nearly 16 bcf.
FERC also approved a 190-mile pipeline with a capacity of 1.2 bcf per day that will tie the terminal into markets along the eastern seaboard and the southeast.
Texas terminal A new LNG terminal, pipeline and related facilities proposed by Calhoun LNG at Port Lavaca in Calhoun County, Texas, were also approved by the agency. The terminal would have an initial capacity of 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas daily, which would move into existing pipelines via a new 27-mile line that will cost an estimated $63 million.
Maine rejection
A proposal by Downeast LNG to temporarily withdraw its application for a terminal along the coast of Maine was rejected by that state’s Board of Environmental Protection on Sept. 20.
The terminal has been controversial because the tankers would cross through Canadian waters at the entrance to Passamaquoddy Bay, and that has brought criticism from Canadians along the route.
The Canadian government has considered legislation banning big tankers from the Bay of Fundy, but the U.S. maintains it has treaty rights for ships to pass through those waters. A second terminal, proposed by Quoddy Bay LNG, would be located nearby at Eastport, Maine.
Downeast LNG wanted to withdraw its application and refile it later with added information, but the Maine board refused to allow the withdrawal and plans to issue its decision next year.
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