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Ground broken on Louisiana LNG facility Terminal could be operational by 2008, will handle 2.6 bcf per day, more than existing terminals; can handle two ships at a time The Associated Press
Federal energy regulators and state officials have broken ground in Cameron Parish, La., on the country’s newest and largest liquefied natural gas terminal.
Two of the four members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the federal agency that approves all onshore LNG facilities, wielded gold-plated shovels alongside state and local officials to mark the start of construction on Cheniere Energy Inc.’s $800 million terminal.
“The facility is good for the country and fortunately, as we see today, it brings jobs to good people from this area of the country,” said FERC chairman Pat Wood, who helped push Cheniere’s application through in record time.
The terminal will be built on a 568-acre site in Cameron Parish, about four miles up the Sabine River on the state line. The remote locale has nearly as many pipelines as people.
Huge tankers will transport the gas in super-cooled liquid form to make for easy transport to the terminal where it will be converted back to gas and sent by pipeline to the rest of the country. Two of the LNG ships will be able to dock simultaneously at the terminal, the company said. Terminal could be operating by 2008 The terminal, which could be operating by 2008, is expected to create 300-500 construction jobs and 80-100 permanent jobs, according to Cheniere officials.
The energy industry scoffed five years ago at Cheniere’s plans to build LNG terminals in the Gulf of Mexico, President and CEO Charif Souki said. Rising natural gas prices have since prompted several energy companies to announce their intentions to build terminals off the Gulf coast.
“For everybody who says that it’s impossible, that it can’t be done, that’s not true,” Souki said.
The terminal will have the capacity to handle 2.6 billion cubic feet per day, more than any of the four domestic LNG terminals operating today.
“The demand is growing and this facility will help to meet that demand,” said 7th District Congressman Charles Boustany, R-La. “It’s going to help lower costs and it will help provide energy to fuel homes throughout the country.”
Several proposed LNG facilities in other regions of the country have been derailed by residents of nearby communities, usually because of concerns over the safety of the massive LNG tankers.
But Cameron Parish’s small population, and that population’s familiarity with the energy and shipping industries, created a favorable atmosphere that made the construction of a new LNG facility possible, state and Cheniere officials said.
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