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Gold/Mining/Energy : LNG -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (51)	1/28/2004 12:20:25 PM
From: Dennis Roth	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 919

Crystal Energy Secures Agreement for Domestic Energy Supply to Meet Urgent Natural Gas Demand biz.yahoo.com Wednesday January 28, 11:00 am ET Agreement to Use Alaskan Supply of Natural Gas for the Crystal Clearwater Port Project Ensures Secure Domestic Supply, Means Less Reliance on Foreign Imports OXNARD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 28, 2004-- Crystal Energy, LLC announced today that it has signed a "Memorandum of Understanding" (MOU) with the Alaska Gasline Port Authority (AGPA) to negotiate a detailed letter of intent to supply domestic liquefied natural gas (LNG) for its Clearwater Port importation terminal from an LNG plant to be built in Alaska. Under the arrangement, the Port Authority's Alaska LNG Project would supply up to eight hundred million cubic feet per day (800 mmscfd) of natural gas for a 20-year period through the Crystal Clearwater Port facility. This amount equals nearly half of California's projected residential demand. The Crystal Clearwater Port project, located 11 miles offshore Ventura County, Calif., calls for utilizing existing "Platform Grace" to import natural gas in a liquid form (LNG). Vessels will transport LNG from the proposed plant in Valdez, Alaska, to the platform, where it will be converted back into vapor form. The natural gas will then be delivered into the existing Southern California Gas Company transmission system via pipeline, providing California with a clean, secure and abundant source of domestically produced energy that will help meet the state's energy needs well into the future. "We are pleased to have initiated discussions with the Alaska Gasline Port Authority," said William O. Perkins III, Crystal Energy, LLC president. "The AGPA project would deliver a portion of their state's abundant natural gas resources to California through our offshore LNG importation facility. Though the AGPA project is still in the development phase, we are confident their project will go forward, and are working toward a definitive agreement with them." "Such an agreement would constitute a significant way to meet long-term domestic demand on the West Coast with secure, stable domestic reserves, and would also serve the best interests of the residents of both California and Alaska by reducing our reliance on foreign sources of energy," stated Bert Cottle, chairman of the AGPA. The U.S. Department of Energy and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan have recently stressed the need for such facilities in order to avoid a looming national shortage of natural gas that could push future natural gas prices to new historic levels. California currently imports about 90 percent of the natural gas it consumes, and demand projections call for a 20 percent increase over the next 10 years. Crystal's Clearwater Port project calls for using an existing offshore platform in order to protect precious coastal land, avoid any new visual impacts and maintain normal port operations. A new offshore pipeline would travel through an existing pipeline right-of-way and connect with onshore infrastructure that delivers natural gas to Southern California. "We know that our project will meet the highest standards for safety and reliability, and that the clean-burning, low-cost natural gas we supply will contribute significantly to a cleaner California environment and stable economy. We look forward to a rigorous environmental review of our application by federal, state and local agencies, and believe our proposal will be validated," said Perkins. Crystal Energy plans to submit its Clearwater Port project application for review within the next two weeks. The Alaska Gasline Port Authority was formed as a municipal port authority among the City of Valdez, the North Slope Borough and the Fairbanks North Star Borough to develop and deliver gas from Alaska's North Slope to energy markets in the Pacific Basin. The AGPA project would bring North Slope natural gas to the Port of Valdez by way of a new gas pipeline parallel to the existing trans-Alaska oil pipeline corridor, thereby minimizing environmental impacts. Once in the Port of Valdez, the gas would be converted to liquid form and transported by vessel to importation facilities such as the Crystal Clearwater Port. An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the project has been approved, and many of the required permits have already been issued for this project's route. Crystal Energy, LLC is a Delaware Limited Liability Company formed specifically to permit the Clearwater Port project. Crystal's mission is to create a clean, environmentally superior solution to California's growing need for energy, while providing Oxnard, Ventura County and the region with a priority supply of stable, low-cost natural gas. Crystal Energy has offices in Houston, Texas, and Ventura, Calif. Contact: Crystal Energy, LLC Lisa Palmer, 805-680-2336 Source: Crystal Energy, LLC