Cooled Natural Gas Heats Up Interest
Wall Street Journal, August 15, 2003
"Earlier this year, Sherwin Alumina, a bauxite refiner, purchased a one-third interest in a planned LNG receiving terminal adjacent to its Corpus Christi, Texas, facility. In exchange, Sherwin gave 200 acres of land on ship channel and $6 million to Cheniere Energy Inc. of Houston.
Cheniere Chief Executive Charif Souki says a half-dozen companies have sought to become equity partners in proposed LNG-receiving terminals. The exploration company is developing three LNG receiving terminals along the Gulf Coast, in the Texas cities of Freeport, Sabine Pass, and Corpus Christi. All three terminals are scheduled to open in 2007, pending federal permits.
Traditionally, North American natural gas has been supplied by pipeline. But as domestic supply fails to keep pace with demand, interest in importing LNG has grown. For the first six months of the year, the U.S. imported 204 billion cubic feet of LNG, up from 108 billion cubic feet during the year-earlier period." |
