Press ReleasesJune 11, 2003 Six
New Offshore Terminal Designs May Expedite LNG Deliveries; Reviewed at Natural
Gas Industry Conference May 15, 2003 Non-Traditional
Designs for LNG Receiving and Regasification Terminals to Be Explored in Industry
Survey, June Meeting Six
New Offshore Terminal Designs May Expedite LNG Deliveries; Reviewed at Natural
Gas Industry ConferenceHOUSTON, June 11, 2003 - In the wake of announcements
by the Federal Reserve about the need for more natural gas, Saipem Group, Single
Buoy Moorings, Bluewater Offshore, Spectrum Energy Services, Höegh LNG and
Aker Kvaerner will discuss radically new concepts for receiving terminals at an
industry meeting in Houston, June 19 and 20.
"The LNG industry has
typically required at least five years to put new supply chains into place. With
local community opposition to onshore terminals running high, these lead-times
may grow even longer," said Bob Nimocks, president of Zeus Development Corporation,
a company that is conducting industry research to investigate new designs. "Consequently,
the industry is searching for other ways to get gas into pipeline grids, and terminals
located far offshore are one such way."
Two proposed liquefied natural
gas (LNG) terminals - one in the Gulf of Mexico and one offshore California -
will use existing infrastructure to expedite construction and operation. The LNG
can come from distant gas reserves located as far away as West Africa and Australia.
The
Gulf of Mexico terminal proposed by Freeport-McMoRan Sulphur LLC will use a large
surface platform built as part of an offshore sulfur mine. The company is preparing
a Deepwater Port license application to receive and process LNG and compressed
natural gas shipments. The facility will be able to store very large amounts of
natural gas underground. Vice President David Landry will provide a review of
the project during the Houston conference, which is entitled LNG: Non-Traditional
Concepts for Receiving and Regasification.
The proposed California
terminal will use a depleted gas-production platform connected to a undersea pipeline
offshore Oxnard. Crystal Energy has signed a long-term lease to use Platform Grace,
set in federal waters 11 miles offshore. Bill Perkins, president of the company,
will provide a cost build up of their project during the conference.
In
addition to these two projects, numerous new designs - running the spectrum from
manmade islands, to permanently moored floating storage ships, to modified LNG
tankers that can pump and vaporize LNG directly into subsea pipelines - will be
presented.
Non-Traditional
Designs for LNG Receiving and Regasification Terminals to Be Explored in Industry
Survey, June MeetingHOUSTON, May 15, 2003 - Zeus Development Corporation
is coordinating an industry research project, including a June 19-20 meeting in
Houston, to investigate new ways for importers to receive and regasify cargoes
of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and compare and contrast these designs to conventional
terminal capabilities and economics. The research will build on analysis conducted
by Zeus in its 2000 industry report on conventional LNG receiving and regasification
terminals (ISBN: 0-615-11567-5). "Many new designs for terminals have emerged
that seek to remedy NIMBY concerns, land constraints, storage limitations and
construction lead times common with conventional LNG terminals," says Bob Nimocks,
president of Zeus Development Corporation and organizer of the research project
and conference. "These might enable importers to access higher value markets,
where population density makes siting terminals onshore especially challenging."
New designs include slow and fast-discharge turret and buoy systems; floating
terminals, either as steel or concrete floating-storage-regasification units (FSRUs);
manmade islands (gravity-based structures); and converted gas-production platforms.
"Construction tends to be more expensive offshore," according to Nimocks,
"So, LNG terminal designers are focusing on ways to either reduce costs by reducing
LNG storage or increase gas sales revenue by relocating the terminal to new markets
as seasonal demands change." At least two designs to be investigated call
for vaporizing and injecting the LNG directly from ships into depleted offshore
gas reservoirs or salt caverns. Others propose to vaporize LNG directly from ships
into undersea pipelines. In most instances, the ships will stay ten to twelve
miles offshore. "Importers that can move their terminals from market to
market as seasons change will earn higher prices for their gas," Nimocks notes.
"For example, had an importer been able to serve Florida during the summers and
Massachusetts during the winters from 1990 to 2002, the importer would have earned
an average $0.52 per million Btu premium over an importer that could only serve
one of the other market - generating more than $100 million annually in added
revenue for a standard-sized one-half BCF/D terminal."
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