Crowley can import Canadian LNG to Alaska

KRISTEN NELSON

Petroleum News

Crowley Maritime Corp.’s petroleum distribution group has been granted approval by the U.S. Department of Energy and Canada’s National Energy Board to import liquefied natural gas from Canada.

The company said Nov. 10 that the Canadian-sourced LNG would be for supply, transportation and distribution throughout the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, with renewable, two-year import and export licenses allowing the company to import up to 2.12 billion cubic feet of LNG via truck in 10,700-gallon ISO tanks or in bulk via ocean-going vessels.

That total volume of 2.12 bcf over two years is small compared to the Alaska LNG Project, which is projected to move some 3.5 bcf per day from Prudhoe Bay and Point Thomson to a liquefaction facility at Nikiski on Cook Inlet.

“This approval is an important step in expanding Crowley’s capability to provide LNG for the Pacific Northwest and Alaska markets, building on the company’s existing service offerings in the region,” said Matt Sievert, Crowley’s director of business development, LNG. “It’s exciting for many of our commercial and industrial customers because the availability of LNG has been very limited in the past, and it’s another opportunity for us to prove that we’re a total solutions provider in the energy and logistics industries.”

Crowley said it is working to secure long-term, 25-year licenses with both DOE and NEB, while at the same time actively monitoring the development of Alaska LNG supply projects, which would be a closer source to Interior markets in Alaska.

Crowley already has a small LNG export license.

The company said its Carib Energy was granted a 20-year, small-scale DOE export license allowing the export of a total of 14.6 bcf over the 20 years of the license, some 0.04 bcf per day, into Non-Free Trade Agreement countries in the Caribbean, Central and South America.