Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (154)	7/5/2004 10:45:34 AM
From: Dennis Roth	Respond to of 919

Another energy niche for T&T trinidadexpress.com Monday, July 5th 2004 Trinidad and Tobago recently took another bold step in the energy business by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a foreign company to set up a re-gasification terminal in the United States. Although full details were not disclosed, Energy Minister Eric Williams announced that the Government and Freeport McMoran, promoters of the Main Pass Energy Hub project, have signed an MoU for the establishment of a re-gasification terminal which will be located offshore Louisiana and in close proximity to several major natural gas distribution pipelines. The move essentially means that Trinidad and Tobago will directly participate in another key part of the chain from the well to the consumer, thereby providing additional revenue for the country. Also, it will serve as a kind of guarantee that Trinidad and Tobago will have a firm hold on its share of the lucrative US market. Currently, LNG from Trinidad and Tobago amounts to an estimated 80 per cent of the total US LNG imports. According to the Minister, LNG demand in the US market is made more acute due to the steady natural decline of gas reservoirs and an insufficiency of re-gasification terminals. Already, Trinidad and Tobago has received 12 proposals for partnership in new re-gasification terminal projects in the US, which have varied from specific written proposals to telephone discussions and visits to this country. In a re-gasification terminal the liquefied natural gas is returned to the gaseous state by a simple heating process. It is then introduced into the gas pipeline network. According to market experts, there are enormous expectations for the role of foreign-sourced LNG in satisfying the energy requirements of North America, and the United States in particular, over the next several decades. The United States natural gas pipeline network is vast, and foreign-sourced LNG for the most part will, after re-gasification, be injected into that system. This means that Trinidad and Tobago not only will be a key supplier of LNG to the US market, but also a major player in the strategic distribution chain of the gas business inside the United States. The importance of this aspect of the gas business in the US and opportunities for this country were outlined last week by Guy Caruso, administrator at the Energy Information Administration at the US Department of Energy, who indicated that there are around 40 proposals for new terminals being considered and now at various stages of the approval process. Caruso made it clear that to keep up with gas supplies, there was a definite need for more terminals in the United States. Four terminals currently operating in the US already are close to capacity, and here's where Trinidad and Tobago may have found another niche in the lucrative energy market. Signing of the MoU and the consideration being given to other potential offers, along with plans to build an intra-Caribbean gas pipeline indicate that local energy authorities clearly are moving down the right path and stand ready to take full advantage of the market opportunities as they arise. Trinidad and Tobago will stand to reap greater benefits as the country becomes more and more involved along the chain in the energy business.