Approved LNG work to double capacity
By TINA SEELEY
Bloomberg News
chron.com
WASHINGTON - Federal energy regulators Thursday approved plans that would almost double the nation's capacity to import liquefied natural gas, moving to meet rising demand.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved projects to build or expand five terminals in Texas, Louisiana, New Jersey and Maryland.
The plans, submitted by Houston-based Cheniere Energy and Sempra Energy, BP and Dominion Resources, would raise the country's import capacity by 9.7 billion cubic feet a day. The U.S. can currently handle 5.2 billion a day at five existing LNG sites, according to the commission.
"The increase in natural gas supplies represented by these projects, once constructed, would have a significant impact on domestic natural gas prices in the future," FERC Chairman Joseph Kelliher said.
Regulators signed off on Cheniere's planned expansion of its Sabine Pass LNG terminal, currently under construction, from 2.6 billion cubic feet a day to 4 billion cubic feet.
Cheniere also won approval for construction of the Creole Trail LNG terminal. The $950 million facility, in Louisiana's Cameron Parish three miles from the Gulf of Mexico, would be capable of handling 3.3 billion cubic feet of gas a day.
FERC also approved a new $800 million Port Arthur LNG terminal owned by Sempra. The facility would be able to handle 1.5 billion to 3 billion cubic feet of gas a day. Regulators accepted Dominion's proposal to nearly double the capacity of its Cove Point facility in Maryland.
And the commission approved BP's Crown Landing terminal in New Jersey, which spawned a lawsuit among states that has reached the Supreme Court. |
