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

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (133)	6/21/2004 7:53:47 AM
From: Dennis Roth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 919

Project to Import Natural Gas Wins Approval nytimes.com By SIMON ROMERO Published: June 21, 2004 HOUSTON, June 20 - The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved a project to bring large amounts of natural gas from abroad to an operation south of Houston. The move clears a major hurdle for companies like ConocoPhillips and Dow Chemical that are seeking steady gas supplies. The commission ruled late Friday that a consortium formed by three companies, Freeport LNG Investments, Cheniere LNG and Contango Oil and Gas, can move forward with a plan to invest more than $500 million to build a complex in Quintana Island, Tex., capable of unloading 200 ships a year of liquefied natural gas. The project, known as Freeport LNG, is among the first of its kind to win federal regulatory approval in the United States in more than two decades. It is a major development in the debate between environmental advocates and energy companies over the safety of large liquefied natural gas terminals. Natural gas prices have remained high in the last year, sparking discussion of the need to import supplies from nations with ample domestic supplies, like Qatar, Nigeria, Angola, and Trinidad and Tobago. The Freeport venture, 70 miles south of Houston, is scheduled to receive its first shipments of natural gas from abroad by 2007. It is one of several projects proposed for Texas and Louisiana, where resistance from environmental advocates and community groups is not as strong as in places like California, New England and Florida. Opposition to gas terminals on both coasts has already led energy companies to cancel nearly half a dozen similar projects for large gas terminals. Michael S. Smith, the owner of Freeport LNG Investments, said in an interview that he expected construction of the terminal to begin by the end of the summer. "This is big news within the energy industry," Mr. Smith said, "to have one of these projects that should get built right away. " He added that the commission will have detailed oversight over the project, including several relatively minor licensing requirements that Freeport needs to meet in the weeks ahead. ConocoPhillips, the oil company, recently agreed to finance much of the construction of the Freeport terminal, partly in exchange for a large portion of the gas expected to be received there. Dow Chemical, with operations in Freeport, Tex., near Quintana Island, has also reserved a portion of the terminal's natural gas.