Cove Point gets first LNG in 23 years

Debra Beachy, Petroleum News contributng writer

Dominion’s reopened Cove Point LNG import terminal received its first commercial delivery in 23 years of liquefied natural gas, the company said Aug. 25.

BP Energy delivered 130,000 cubic meters of LNG from Trinidad and Tobago to the facility south of Baltimore, Md. The cargo will ultimately be vaporized into approximately 2.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas, Dominion said.

Cove Point is the largest of four U.S. LNG import facilities, with a daily send-out capacity of 1 bcf of natural gas, enough to serve the daily energy needs of 3.4 million homes, the company said.

Dominion has refurbished the facility since buying it in September 2002, adding new unloading arms, upgrading control systems, installing new vaporizers and improving safety and security systems. In addition, Dominion has started construction on a new 2.5 billion cubic feet storage tank, scheduled for service in January 2005.

Dominion Cove Point's 87-mile pipeline connects with three major interstate pipelines in northern Virginia — Dominion Transmission, Columbia Gas and Transcontinental Gas. Through those connections, natural gas can flow to major markets throughout the Mid-Atlantic, as well as to traditional underground storage fields.

Cove Point was opened in 1978 but closed just two years later as falling gas prices drove up costs. Dominion bought the facility from Williams for $217 million.

The renewed interest in LNG is moving other Latin American countries to follow the example of Trinidad and Tobago, which has one of the largest LNG facilities in the region. Venezuela’s government has announced plans to build an LNG facility, and LNG projects also are on the drawing board in Bolivia and Peru.