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ConocoPhillips pulls bid for LNG port Governor opposes project offshore Alabama because of open loop vaporization; company uncertain it would look at closed loop The Associated Press
ConocoPhillips is withdrawing its bid for a liquefied natural gas terminal off the Alabama coast that would cool huge amounts of seawater, in a process that critics say could cause massive harm to Gulf of Mexico fisheries and marine life.
Alabama Gov. Bob Riley said June 9 that the Houston-based company was withdrawing its application in a letter to the federal Maritime Administration.
Riley had set a deadline of June 11 to veto or permit the application for an LNG terminal south of Dauphin Island using what is known as an “open loop” vaporization system. Riley had indicated he opposed that kind of system and would veto the application in an announcement at Mobile on June 9.
“We’ve been having conversations with them for the last few weeks,” Riley said. “I was prepared to veto that. They made the decision they wanted to withdraw the application.” Riley has said he would not allow “any activity that I believe may adversely impact our marine resources if I have the power to stop it.”
Environmental and conservation groups urged Riley to veto the project, as Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco did in May on a McMoRan Exploration Co. application. Riley had publicly supported Blanco’s veto.
Critics concerned about harm to marine life Critics of the “open loop” vaporization system say it could harm marine life, particularly fish eggs and larvae, as it uses massive amounts of warm waters to reheat the LNG and turn it back into a gas.
The proposed Compass Port terminal off Dauphin Island would be capable of importing the equivalent of 1 billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas and vaporizing it each day. Federal officials say the system would cool 136 million to 177 million gallons per day of seawater.
Environmentalists have fewer objections to a closed loop system for LNG terminals, in which some of the LNG is used as fuel to reheat the rest.
While ConocoPhillips had no immediate comment, Riley said he believes the company is “going to look at some different technologies now.”
“I think they are going to go back and look at a closed loop system that is a lot more environmentally sensitive. I think it’s going to give them an opportunity to reassess their whole LNG structure,” the governor said.
A ConocoPhillips spokesman said the process of gaining regulatory approval for the project is lengthy and expensive and the company would have to review whether it wants to start over with a closed loop system for the Compass Port terminal, which was projected to create 600 jobs.
“I’m not saying what we’re going to do. We would have to think about it,” ConocoPhillips spokesman Steve Lawless said June 8.
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