News/ Press
November 10, 2003 Trinidad Central
Bank, Petronas, Fair Play for Harpswell among Presenting Firms
at 'East Coast LNG' conference
September 10, 2003 East Coast Offers
Grand, But Challenging Prize to LNG Developers; December Conference
to Consider Implications
Trinidad Central Bank, Petronas, Fair Play
for Harpswell among Presenting Firms at 'East Coast LNG' conference
Houston, November 10, 2003 -Zeus Development Corporation announces
the program for its client conference, "East Coast LNG,"
is nearly complete. The meeting is slated Dec. 8-10 at the Boston
Seaport Hotel.
"We are bringing together as representative a forum as possible
- major U.S. gas consumers, importers, exporters, regulators and
community activists - to examine the status and likelihood of
success of efforts to import more gas in the east," said
Bob Nimocks, president of Zeus, the host of the conference.
Several issues confront the nation as it contemplates importing
more LNG. One is where to site new terminals. Just four have been
built, and soon these will be at full capacity.
New terminals that would be built near high-priced East Coast
markets might benefit consumers and suppliers by cutting the distance
the gas needs to be transported, but opposition there appears
stronger than along the Gulf Coast where the LNG would enter the
trunk of the nation's pipeline system.
"We're pleased the East Coast opposition group, Fair Play
for Harpswell, Maine, has agreed to provide their concerns for
a new terminal proposed in that community to give the audience
an understanding of whether there is middle ground," Nimocks
said.
"Security, safety and economics are major issues to communities
where terminals are proposed. These challenges are representative
of groups around the nation."
History has proven that as LNG is brought into a market, natural
gas prices fall. The amount of this decline is another issue for
discussion. Cambridge Energy Research Associates and Platts Energy
Research are providing case examples and economic analysis.
Energy security is also an important issue. Speakers representing
Trinidad, Venezuela, Egypt, West Africa and Malaysia are slated
to address the issue of energy security during an exporters' session,
Tuesday, Dec. 9.
Closing the conference, a panel of developers, state and federal
regulators, scientists, and activists will discuss the likelihood,
supply scenarios and timing for LNG.
"Our objective is for the conference to shed light not only
on how much LNG may reach North America, but also the manner and
timing in which it gets to consumers," Nimocks concluded.
To learn more, see www.lngexpress.com/EastCoastLNG,
or contact
, 713-952-9501.
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East Coast Offers Grand, But Challenging Prize
to LNG Developers; December Conference to Consider Implications
Houston, September 8, 2003 - Natural gas prices are so high on
the U.S. East Coast that consumption per capita is 40% below the
national average. Nearly two fifths of the population lives in
the states stretching from Florida to Maine, but consumes about
a fifth of the gas.
"If the East Coast were to expand their consumption to the
national per-capita average, an additional four TCF (~75 million
metric tons) would be needed annually," said Bob Nimocks,
president of Zeus Development Corporation, the conference organizer.
"Consequently, a number of developers are trying to expand
the East Coast's access to LNG."
Owners of the existing three terminals have been reopening and
expanding their capacities. Tractebel, for example, has expanded
the peak capacity of its Everett, Mass., terminal from 435 to
700 million cubic feet per day (MCFD) and has increased by 65%
its U.S. shipments during 2003.
All totaled, the peak send-out for the three operational East
Coast terminals will climb from 435 MCFD in 2000 to 2,500 MCFD
by 2005.
New terminal development, however, may push supplies even further.
Designs range from traditional shore-based terminals like the
one proposed in Fall River, Mass., to terminals located in neighboring
countries, such as the Bahamas, where theoretically NIMBY challenges
are less formidable, to offshore designs that would serve high-value
markets like New York, directly.
"One of the key questions is whether LNG will be the price
setter or price taker," said Nimocks. "If it's the price
setter, it opens great opportunities to the LNG industry."
The conference, entitled East Coast LNG, will be held Dec. 8-10
at Boston's Seaport Hotel. Three questions will be examined:
1) How will LNG affect the East Coast market and what is the
market's elasticity relative to LNG's cost?
2) What is the Atlantic LNG industry's capability to deliver
more gas and at what prices relative to competing gas supplies?
3) What are the practicalities of landing more LNG on the East
Coast, given resident concerns over safety, energy security and
environment, and what are the challenges of integrating higher-Btu
gas into U.S. pipelines?
To learn more about the conference, contact
, 713-952-9501.
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