News Articles
about
Passamaquoddy Bay & LNG

Northeast

Letter from Calvert BOCC on Dominion and payment in lieu of taxes [Letter] (Feb 25) — Southern Maryland News Net, MD

[W]e understood that once existing import contracts expired at Cove Point it would no longer be viable to maintain the site as an import-only facility. Without the tax agreement, and with the current contracts set to expire, Calvert County ran the real risk of losing 100 existing jobs and approximately $15.8 million in tax revenue annually. The BOCC negotiated the highest tax payment possible that keeps the expansion economically viable. The numbers speak for themselves. The combined five-year PILOT agreement and nine-year tax credit is estimated to be valued at approximately $804 million. Following the sunset of the agreement, the Cove Point facility will be taxed at full value. [Red & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: Importing LNG is no longer economically viable — something Downeast LNG seems oblivious to.

Transco pipeline owner plans major expansion (Feb 25) — Citizens' Voice, Wilkes-Barre, PA

The Transco Leidy Line, which runs to central Pennsylvania, is at capacity, and "There is still a whole lot of gas that needs to find its way to the market," he said.

[The first big Transco expansion, called Leidy Southeast], scheduled to start soon, involves constructing approximately 30 miles of pipe segments called "loops" through Pennsylvania and New Jersey, increasing the Transco's capacity by approximately 525,000 dekatherms per day - enough natural gas for approximately 2 million homes. [Red & bold emphasis added.]

Pipeline firm eyes $2B expansion in Pa. to send more Marcellus Shale natural gas to market (Feb 21) — (AP) The Republic, Columbus, IN

Williams said Thursday that the proposed Atlantic Sunrise project is designed to transfer more natural gas from Marcellus Shale-producing areas in northern Pennsylvania to heavily populated East Coast markets. [Red & bold emphasis added.]

British Columbia

Editorial: LNG process must be open — Times Colonist, Victoria, BC

The B.C. government wanted to take over the environmental assessment of the project. Before it could get the federal government to hand over authority, the people of B.C. were allowed to make comments on whether it’s a good idea.

However, most of the people of B.C. were too busy celebrating Christmas and New Year’s to notice when the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency announcement went out on Dec. 17.

The deadline for public input was Monday, Jan. 6. That left 11 working days, assuming any interested parties got cracking right away on Dec. 17.

Those with a suspicious turn of mind suggest the timing was deliberate, to minimize the number of people who would be able to object, and make it easier for B.C. to take control.

The government’s hunger for LNG must not be allowed to skew the outcome of the assessment.

If the government wants to earn the trust and support of British Columbians, it must ensure the approval process is seen to be fair and open.

Webmaster's comment: If this sounds familiar, it is because Downeast LNG has previously used this same tactic (filing over the holidays) to sneak past the public.

Opinion: B.C. needs to manage LNG risk (Feb 25) — The Vancouver Sun, Vancouver, BC

On paper, natural gas looks promising, but that’s before the product is out of the ground

B.C. wants to export its shale gas in the form of liquefied natural gas. At some point, the B.C. government must explain to its citizens that the thousands of natural gas wells that are yet to be drilled, generating many thousands of person-years of employment, will have environmental impacts. An active plan to manage those impacts might carry more weight than a “clean gas” sound-bite.

B.C. assures us this fiscal regime is competitive, and that investment will flow into B.C.’s natural gas industry to make it all happen. Yet with lower cost providers in the competitive international market, B.C.’s bet is facing some long odds. Great care will be needed to ensure the quest for wealth does not out-weigh the need to be competitive. [Red & bold emphasis added.]

United States

EIA: Value of U.S. gas imports dropped dramatically in recent years — LNG World News

Natural gas trade flows are much lower, in terms of both monetary value and energy content, than trade flows associated with crude oil and petroleum products. However, the value of U.S. natural gas net trade flows has experienced large percentage declines in recent years, because both the price and net volume of natural gas imports have been declining for several years.

While both domestic oil and natural gas production are currently on the upswing, the boom in natural gas production from shale resources began in 2005, well ahead of the upturn in tight oil production. The decline in value of net imports of natural gas is particularly noteworthy, given that the volume of U.S. natural gas consumption has been increasing since 2005, in contrast to the consumption of oil, which has been flat or declining since the middle of the past decade. [Red & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: Downeast LNG was already doomed as unneeded when it entered permitting.

Passamaquoddy Bay

Dismiss LNG Application [Editorial] (Feb 14) — The Courier Weekend, St. Stephen, NB

The time has come for the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to dismiss, outright, the seriously flawed Downeast LNG application for an LNG import facility at Robbinston, Me.

Downeast LNG can no longer hold onto its fantasy.

Lacking suitable land, rights of way on both land and water and now, a market, Downeast LNG has been reduced to an impossibly flawed project. For that reason, FERC must dismiss the application and thus end almost a decade of concern for area residents. [Red, yellow & bold emphasis added.]

United States

Boundless natural gas, boundless opportunities: Interview with EIA chief (Feb 23) — Daily Finance

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has predicted that natural gas production in the US will continue to grow at an impressive pace. Right now output is close to 70 billion cubic feet a day and is expected to reach over 100 billion cubic feet per day by 2040. The trend is likely to continue without hitting a geologic "peak", and along with this trend will come new marketing opportunities for America. [Red & bold emphasis added.]

Maine & New England

Report: Gas pipeline not enough to avert New England energy crisis (Feb 18) — Bangor Daily News, Bangor, ME

New England is facing an energy crisis brought on by high natural gas prices, and the call by governors in the six states for a new, publicly funded natural gas pipeline does not go far enough to solve the problem, according to a detailed analysis of the region’s energy options.

The consultants used 12 months of 2013 data to estimate future trends, and concluded that New England needs 2 billion cubic feet of new natural gas pipeline capacity — twice what the governors are calling for.

[Industrial Energy Consumer Group's Maine attorney Anthony Buxton] points out that in neighboring New York and Pennsylvania, natural gas is available at prices that often dip below $3 per million BTU, but because New England lacks adequate natural gas pipeline capacity, natural gas prices in cold weather have routinely been above $20 per million BTU.

[According to the consultants,] “Additional pipeline capacity into New England serves to discipline Canadian energy suppliers by reducing their pricing power,” the report states. “To be assured of obtaining low prices for any imported Canadian electric energy, New England must move forward with developing additional pipeline capacity as soon as possible, and before entering into any electricity purchase agreements with Canadian suppliers.”

Spectra is … the owner of the Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline, which runs from the Canadian Maritimes through Maine to southern New England. Spectra announced earlier this month it is willing to invest millions to retrofit the pipeline so it can bring natural gas from southern New England into Maine, the opposite direction of its original purpose.

Kinder Morgan also has indicated a willingness to spend millions on gas line expansion into New England if it can get guaranteed 15- to 20-year contracts at fixed prices for the capacity.

One of the most promising initiatives is the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Northeast Expansion Project, which would result in 250 miles of new pipeline, meter stations and upgrades to existing pipeline in New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut. [Red & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: Pipelines are the ultimate solution to providing New England and Maine with adequate supplies of natural gas during periods of high demand. Downeast LNG thumbs its nose at the sensible solution, instead urging costly, unrelieable dependence on LNG imports from overseas countries that may be unfriendly to the US, further sapping the US trade balance.

Northeast

Pennsylvania shale production continued to grow in 2013 (Feb 19) — State Impact, NPR

Pennsylvania’s annual gas production swelled last year, with drilling companies pulling 3.1 trillion cubic feet of gas from the Marcellus Shale and other unconventional formations in 2013, according to new data released by the state.

Pennsylvania’s unconventional wells produced 21 percent more gas in the second half of 2013 than they did in the first half, when 1.4 trillion cubic feet of gas flowed from the state’s shale wells. Operators are becoming more efficient, pulling more gas from shale even as they deploy fewer drilling rigs in the state, and more pipelines are being built to carry the gas to customers. An average of 59 rigs were operating in Pennsylvania in 2013, down from 84 in 2012 and 110 in 2011, according to rig counts from the field services company Baker Hughes. [Red & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: Northeast natural gas production is booming, along with new pipelines to deliver that gas. Downeast LNG is a lost cause.

British Columbia

First Nations want LNG, but only if it's done right — The First Perspective, Canada

We're in favor of a balanced approach to LNG, but when we look at B.C.'s record of resource development, we are very wary. With mining, logging and oil and gas we have often been left with a mess to fix once resource extraction is finished. There has been no sustainability in the government's approach to resource developments. If you look at our territory, the caribou are threatened and the fish are contaminated. We worry that the province only looks at the benefits of new industries like LNG without properly considering the impacts. [Red & bold emphasis added.]

New Brunswick, Maine, Passamaquoddy Bay, and New England

New uses sought for Saint John's Canaport LNG terminal (Feb 15) — CBC News

Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline wants to reverse gas flow

The company that owns majority interest in the Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline has announced plans to reverse its flow from south to north, putting pressure on New Brunswick's Saint John's Canaport liquefied natural gas terminal to convert into an export facility.

[N]ow Spectra Energy wants to bring gas into Maine from Pennsylvania and New York, instead of through the Maritimes.

“There's a business interest on the part of Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline, on the part of Repsol and Irving, on the part of Emera to find a new use for that facility and an export terminal is a good potential to do that,” he said. [Red, yellow & bold emphasis added.]

New England energy agreement promising, with implications for Maine’s energy future [Editorial] (Jan 26) — Bangor Daily News, Bangor, ME

It started with conversations, then a statement of cooperation. We’re pleased to see the governors of the six New England states have taken their pledge to jointly tackle regional energy issues one step further.

With the agreement they made public Thursday, the governors — five Democrats and one Republican — started to broach the specifics of introducing more natural gas to a region that is often cut off from the benefits of America’s natural gas revolution. And they’re at the start of deciding how New England should move increasing amounts of clean and renewable energy from the source to the population centers with a growing demand for it.

The construction of new pipeline capacity funded by the ratepayers of all six New England states, with the new capacity devoted strictly to lowering electricity costs, can ease natural gas shortages and start to bring the region’s gas prices more in line with prices elsewhere in the United States. [Red, yellow & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment:New England and the United States are not pandering to Downeast LNG's boondoggle white elephant.

Northeast

New trend? Bi-directional natgas pipelines in Marcellus/Utica — Marcellus Drilling News [Paid subscription]

A new and interesting trend is beginning to happen in the Marcellus/Utica region: flexible pipelines. No, we don’t mean natural gas pipelines traditionally manufactured from steel are now being manufactured with a new material–we mean the flows of gas moving along pipelines is starting to reverse and flow in the opposite direction, depending on the time of year.

In wintertime the northeast uses more natural gas than can be produced in the Marcellus/Utica alone, and as has been the case for decades, pipelines bring gas supplies into the northeast from other areas of the country. However, with the explosion of production coming from the Marcellus/Utica, at other times of the year the Marcellus/Utica produces more than enough gas, and so some pipelines are starting to upgrade so they can flow the gas in the opposite direction. However, as industry giant Rusty Braziel notes, it ain’t easy to just change directions… [Red, yellow & bold emphasis added.]

Documents reveal Calvert County signed non-disclosure agreement with company proposing Cove Point LNG terminal — Truthout

DeSmogBlog has obtained documents revealing that the government of Calvert County, MD, signed a non-disclosure agreement on August 21, 2012, with Dominion Resources — the company proposing the Cove Point Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) export terminal in Lusby, MD. The documents have raised concerns about transparency between the local government and its citizens.

The Accokeek Mattawoman Piscataway Creeks Council (AMP Council), an environmental group based in Accokeek, MD, obtained the documents under Maryland's Public Information Act and provided them to DeSmogBlog.

Upon learning about the agreement, Fred Tutman, CEO of Patuxent Riverkeeper — a group opposed to the LNG project — told DeSmogBlog he believes Calvert County officials are working “in partnership with Dominion to the detriment of citizen transparency.” [Red & bold emphasis added.]

Northeast's record natural gas prices due to pipeline dearth (Feb 6) — Bloomberg Businessweek

Temperatures in New York City hit 7F on Jan. 22, a day after the price to deliver natural gas into the city spiked to a record $123 per thousand cubic feet on the spot market. A hundred miles away in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale, the biggest natural gas field in the U.S., the same amount of gas costs 35 times less.

A lack of pipelines is depriving consumers of the full benefits of low-cost energy. Although the wells in Pennsylvania are practically in the backyard of the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states, pipeline companies are still working to connect the gas fields to the utility pipes beneath towns and cities. Until they do, a lot of gas will continue to get pumped more than 1,000 miles from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast.

As many as 10 pipeline projects are in the works to deliver an extra 2 billion cubic feet of gas from the Marcellus Shale into the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Half that capacity won’t be completed until late 2018, so regional lawmakers are trying to speed the process. “We haven’t seen those investments keeping up with demand,” Clarke says. “So we felt that we needed to take action to avoid the crisis that’s coming down the pike.” [Red & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: This points out Downeast LNG's lack of business competence. Although pipeline constraints currently prevent adequate supply delivery during periods of high demand in New England, there is plenty of domestic supply. And, since pipelines are full during periods of high demand, Downeast LNG has no way to deliver natural gas to market — precisely because pipeline constraints exist. Downeast LNG is caught in a Catch-22..

Gulf of Mexico

A plan to abandon natural gas storage capacity fuels a bitter fight (Jan 31) — The Barrel, Platts

Last month, the operators of Tres Palacios Gas Storage in Texas asked FERC for permission to abandon roughly 60% of its working capacity from the three-cavern underground storage complex about 100 miles southwest of Houston.

Tres Palacios, a subsidiary of Crestwood Equity Partners, argues that Gulf Coast gas market fundamentals have become unprofitable and due to weak demand and prices with limited volatility, it needs to abandon up to 22.9 Bcf of working capacity. The facility currently has a working gas capacity set by FERC at 38.4 Bcf.

“This [Tres Palacios] application is strictly a ploy to use the Federal Government as a tool to decrease their contractual lease obligations for the salt caverns,” wrote Charlie Tresselt, president of Trull Service Company, which manages the land and mineral assets in question, in a January 3 letter to FERC. “In fact, I see this as a large corporate organization taking advantage of their resources to squeeze the little guy.”

British Columbia

LNG plant plan questioned — The North Shore News, North Vancouver, BC

Some residents worry the facility could turn the tide for Howe Sound, which they say has only recently seen the return of wildlife driven out by previous decades of industrial development.

"This would create a lot of sound that would carry into the water and scare away the marine mammals that have only recently returned," she said. "Howe Sound is just so beautiful and I want it to stay unindustrialized."

Oregon

Fatal flaw in Jordan Cove plan [Editorial] (Jan 29) — The Umpqua Post, The World, Coos Bay, OR

Our last editorial of discussed a proposal to create a mechanism for accepting and disbursing what’s expected to be a multi-million-dollar windfall when and if the Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas plant becomes reality. The plan was crafted by our region’s governmental entities and the Port of Coos Bay, and publicly unveiled at a recent Bay Area Chamber of Commerce meeting.

We found what we consider to be a fatal flaw in that proposal – the complete and absolute absence of public accountability. The plan calls for Jordan Cove to pay “community service fees” in lieu of property tax payments, and those funds to be managed by a nonprofit corporation and its self-appointed board. (That’s correct: self-appointed.) As a nonprofit, the board would not be subject to the state’s open records and meetings laws.

No matter what you call these funds, they remain public money. Management decisions on those funds, and who gets to make those decisions, must be done in the full light of public scrutiny. Unless that happens, we believe the plan is unacceptable. [Red & bold emphasis added.]

United States

A buoyant outlook (Jan 28) — Energy Global

Activity over the past decade has seen the US national gas strategy turned on its head. Plans to become one of the world’s largest LNG importers were scrapped in light of the shale gas glut. During 2007 the US Department of Energy (DoE) was reviewing 49 separate project applications, which would have accounted for over 300 million tpa of regasification capacity. Of course the majority of these applications were quickly withdrawn in the wake of dwindling demand for imported gas.

However the tipping point was too late for some projects, which had already begun construction. By late 2010, the US had approximately 14 billion ft³/d of import capacity, yet import terminals were barely utilised at 10% of this level. As confidence grew in the domestic shale gas market, project operators began to contemplate an alternative use for their idle import terminals.

Indeed, all existing projects have now filed to add LNG liquefaction capabilities to their import terminals in a bid to make their projects economical once again. As of November 2013, a total of 26 projects had filed to export domestically produced LNG to countries which do not hold a free trade agreement (FTA) with the US. [Red & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: Downeast LNG's sky is a different color on whatever planet Dean Girdis is on.

Passamaquoddy Bay, Maine, and New England

Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline owner wants to retrofit pipeline to bring gas from south (Feb 12) — Bangor Daily News, Bangor, ME

The owner of the Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline has announced plans to retrofit its pipeline to allow it to carry natural gas from southern New England into Maine, the opposite direction of the pipeline’s original purpose.

Spectra’s multimillion-dollar effort to bring more natural gas into New England, which it’s calling the Atlantic Bridge project, would contribute to increasing that capacity and hopefully lowering costs of natural gas in Maine.

[Spectra’s vice president of regulatory affairs Richard Kruse] said the company has secured an “anchor” customer: Unitil, which is Maine’s largest provider of natural gas. Even if no additional customers are secured, Unitil’s commitment to buy 100 million cubic feet of gas per day would be enough to go ahead with the project, Kruse said. [Red, yellow & bold emphasis added.]

Passamaquoddy Bay & Maine

FERC to release Final EIS for Downeast LNG import terminal in May 2014 — LNG Law Blog

FERC released a notice indicating that it intends to release on May 15, 2014, the final environmental impact statement for the proposed Downeast LNG import terminal on Passamaquoddy Bay, Washington County, Maine. Other federal agencies must act by August 13, 2014, on any other authorizations for the project required by those agencies. [Red, yellow & bold emphasis added.]

Proposed import terminal for natural gas in Washington County advances — Bangor Daily News, Bangor, ME

FERC has asked Downeast LNG to justify its import project now that domestic natural gas production is booming, said Robert Godfrey of Eastport, a spokesman and researcher for Save Passamaquoddy Bay. The federal agency also is requiring Downeast LNG to answer how the company plans to ship natural gas south to its intended Boston market on the Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline, he said.

Spectra Energy, the company that owns and operates the pipeline, announced recently it is planning to reverse direction, expanding its pipeline systems in order to carry natural gas from areas of abundant supply in New York and Pennsylvania to markets in New England and the Maritime provinces. Downeast LNG must respond to the questions by Feb. 27, said Godfrey.

There is no need for an import facility because of dramatic shifts in energy production and markets, Godfrey said. “Essentially, the U.S. is pumping out a sea of natural gas,” he said, and companies are seeking to export it. “We’re swimming and drowning in natural gas,” added Godfrey.

Godfrey reviewed a litany of other objections and potential hurdles to the project. Among them, Downeast LNG is unlikely to be able to obtain a state permit for the pier it needs, he said, and Canadian officials have made clear they will not allow LNG tankers through Head Harbour Passage, between Deer Island and Campobello Island, into Passamaquoddy Bay. [Red, yellow & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: Downeast LNG's project insanity continues.

Plan to boost supply of natural gas would reverse flow of pipeline in Maine — Portland Press Herald, Portland, ME

Spectra Energy wants to switch to south-to-north transport to bring the sorely needed fuel to New England and Canada from New York and Pennsylvania.

The lead owner of the pipeline that pumps natural gas from Canada through Maine to Greater Boston wants to reverse the flow and send gas north from Pennsylvania and New York.

…It’s also a recognition that the new, affordable supplies of natural gas that New England and Atlantic Canada sorely need will come largely from the northeastern United States, not the Canadian Maritimes.

The project represents the quickest way to boost the amount of natural gas flowing into New England, said Marylee Hanley, a spokeswoman for Spectra Energy.

The company also announced that it has an agreement with Unitil Corp. to serve as an “anchor shipper” for the project. Unitil operates in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and is Maine’s largest gas distributor, serving homes and businesses in Greater Portland and Lewiston-Auburn.

The development plan is timely. Last month, the six New England governors launched an unprecedented, regional energy plan that would, in part, increase natural gas pipeline capacity by 20 percent in three years. The governors’ plan would ask utility customers to pay for the multibillion-dollar investment, with the costs recovered through savings on energy bills as the projects increase supplies of lower-cost power. [Red, yellow & bold emphasis added.]

Natural gas is part — not all — of solution to Maine’s energy train wreck (Jan 27) — From the Public Landing [Blog], Bangor Daily News

The answer appears to be all of us whether or not we heat with natural gas. Just last week, the six New England governors agreed to a plan whereby New England’s electricity regulators who operate the New England grid (known as ISO New England) would seek federal approval to increase natural gas pipeline capacity in the region by 600 million cubic feet and charge electric ratepayers across the region for the upgrade. [Red & bold emphasis added.]

Nova Scotia

Goldboro LNG EA: Second round of information requests published (Feb 6) — LNG World News

Pieridae has submitted responses to the information requests Nova Scotia Environment (NSE) received during the second period of written public comments.

The Environmental Assessment Review Panel will now review the Goldboro EA report and all the information submitted to the Panel, and prepare a panel report and recommendations to the Minister of Environment for decision-making regarding the Goldboro proposal. Based on the Environmental Assessment Review Panel Regulations, Pieridae expects to receive a decision from the Minister of Environment in March 2014.

Webmaster's comment: Goldboro LNG is an LNG export terminal project, hoping to ship US-source, as well as lesser amounts of Nova Scotian, natural gas to overseas markets.

Northeast

State questions future for LNG — LIHerald.com, Long Island, NY

The company that wants to build a liquefied natural gas import terminal in the Atlantic Ocean 19 miles southeast of Jones Beach, Liberty Natural Gas, LLC, says the terminal would provide the greater New York City region with a new source of “competitively priced” natural gas. But New York State’s Energy Planning Board doesn’t see much of a future for liquefied natural gas, or LNG, imports in the United States. In fact, they are already waning, according to the board’s recently published 2014 Draft New York State Energy Plan.

… the Draft Energy Plan points out that domestic production of dry natural gas is at its highest level since 1973, whereas natural gas imports declined every year from 2007 through 2012 [and declined even more dramatically in 2013 —SPB webmaster]. That year, LNG imports satisfied less than 1 percent of U.S. natural gas demand, and just two of the 12 active LNG import terminals in the country received regular shipments — “albeit with lower frequency than in past years,” the plan states.

Heather Leibowitz, director of Environment New York and a Merrick native, said the Draft Energy Plan shows there is “not a need for Port Ambrose.” She also pointed out that the proposed Port Ambrose site partly overlaps with that for a wind farm project that has been on hold for several years. [Red & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: Port Ambrose is offshore, and is the only other LNG import-only proposal in the contiguous US besides Downeast LNG.

Oregon

Jordan Cove Energy LNG export application next up for DOE review — LNG Law Blog

With yesterday’s approval of the Cameron LNG export application, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) order of precedence, next up for DOE review is Jordan Cove Energy Project’s (Jordan Cove) application to export six million metric tonnes/year (292 Bcf) of LNG to nations without a Free Trade Agreement with the United States. Jordan Cove proposes to export the LNG from a proposed terminal at Coos Bay, Ore.

United States

USA: One LNG cargo imported in December — LNG World News

The U.S. imported only one liquefied natural gas cargo in December, according to the U.S. Department of Energy data.

The 138,000 cbm BW Suez Everett LNG tanker, which sailed from Yemen, docked at the Everett LNG terminal on December 17.

Passamaquoddy Bay

Maine

Price spike dooms Maine paper mill's gas conversion plans (Feb 7) — MPBN, ME

There are currently five pipelines that bring natural gas into New England. According to Bloomberg News Energy Finance, there are roughly 10 new pipeline projects in the works that will bring another two billion cubin feet of gas into New England.

And an energy bill, passed by the Legislature last year, allows the state to invest in pipeline expansion in the New England, if - says Tom Welch - it will mean lower energy costs for Maine consumers. "Once you start looking at 2016, 2017, 2018 and beyond, the picture, I expect, will be considerably better," he says. [Red, yellow & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: In Downeast LNG's alternate reality, this can't be happening.

New England

Northeast

A tour of the most controversial proposed US LNG export facility (Feb 7) — The Barrel, Platts

Just a 90-minute drive from Washington, DC, the facility has become a key piece in the ongoing debate over US LNG exports, drawing both praise as a viable, new avenue to get Marcellus Shale gas to Asian markets and criticism from environmental and community groups hoping to delay the project and ultimately shut it down.

When you actually get inside the facility …it’s a different story. The seven storage tanks are massive and tower over the pipelines, buildings and transfer lines throughout the 131-acres of fenced-in property. Once I got over the sheer size of the tanks, I also noticed how quiet the facility was, with only a scattering of employees working. This is likely due to the fact that the facility really only imports gas now for routine maintenance and is still a few years from exporting anything yet. There are only 100 employees at the facility now and only 75 are expected to be added once Cove Point starts exporting LNG.

…Construction of the pre-treatment, power production and liquefaction facilities are expected to take at least three years, cost between $3.4 and $3.8 billion and includes construction of a 60 foot wall needed to comply with state noise regulations. [Red & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: That "60 foot wall" would actually be a ¾ mile long wall 60 feet high.

United States

U.S. Natgas production hit another record high in November (Feb 3) — Natural Gas Intelligence [Paid subscription]

Lifted by record natural gas production from the shale-rich Lower 48 category, overall U.S. production also reached a historic high in November, according to the Energy Information Administration’;s (EIA Monthly Natural Gas Gross Production Report. [Red & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: Downeast LNG can fool some of the people some of the time, but not most of the people most of the time — especially with natural gas industry booming production and blowing its horn about it.

Passamaquoddy Bay

FERC requests updated information on Downeast LNG’s import terminal proposal (Feb 6) — LNG Law Blog

Today [Feb 6], FERC staff sent a letter to Downeast LNG requesting updated information on its proposed LNG import terminal on Passamaquoddy Bay, Washington County, Maine. FERC requested, among other things, that Downeast (1) discuss how changes in domestic gas production since Downeast’s application impact its proposal, (2) state if there have been any changes to the market underlying Downeast’s proposal and, if so, provide an update to the purpose and need narrative for the proposal, and (3) discuss the status of any terminal capacity agreements with potential terminal users and, if there are no current agreements, provide an estimate for Downeast’s entry into such agreements. [Red, yellow & bold emphasis added.]

Webmaster's comment: FERC has put Downeast LNG on the hot seat!

Northeast

Some Calvert Co. residents question Cove Point LNG tanks (Feb 1) — Southern Maryland Online, MD

The tanks at Cove Point are single-walled containment, which means the gas is stored in a container with an outer metal shell surrounded by a dike that can hold 110 percent of the gas inside. The seven tanks can hold a total of more than 13 billion cubic feet of LNG, according to Virginia-based Dominion.

…Dale Allison, a retired aerospace engineer, said he is concerned that if there was ever a leak in a tank, the gas that enters the dike could create a potential vapor cloud that might drift to nearby homes.

According to a 2009 Congressional Research Service report on LNG import terminals, if gas did spill without immediately igniting, there is a possibility of a vapor cloud that could drift and if it encountered an ignition source, the combustible part of the air would burn.

James Fay, a mechanical engineering professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said changes to the plant to make it ready for exporting gas could increase the potential risk of fires.

Alaska

UPDATE 1-ConocoPhillips unit seeks LNG export permit from Alaska (Jan 29) — Reuters

ConocoPhillips Alaska Natural Gas Corp (CPANCC) said it wants the government to give approval for the equivalent of up to 40 billion cubic feet of natural gas in total over a two-year period.

The LNG would be exported from facilities located in the Cook Inlet near Kenai, Alaska, the DOE said in a filing posted on Wednesday in the Federal Register. The request is subject to a public comment period that ends on Feb. 28.

The company let its most recent authorization lapse in March 2013 amid perceived uncertainties about whether supplies in the Cook Inlet region were adequate to meet regional needs, the DOE said.

United States

Natural gas isn’t a bridge fuel, it’s a gateway drug — RenewableEnergyWorld.com

In his State of the Union, President Obama added to the conventional wisdom that supplanting coal with natural gas will act as a bridge toward a climate solution. Unfortunately, gas is more of a gateway drug than a bridge to a clean energy future.

1. It’s still a major greenhouse gas. Sure, natural gas is cleaner than coal, but that’s setting a pretty low bar.
2. Gas for electricity competes with gas for heating (and gas for transportation).
3. In electricity and transportation, we have much cleaner options.
   …in the electricity market, renewables are more cost-effective than natural gas.
4. Building natural gas infrastructure chains us to a carbon-based energy future for 50 years.

Expanding natural gas use in electricity and transportation is risky, it’s dirty, and — most of all — it’s unnecessary.

Americans are finally on a course to wean ourselves from an unhealthy addiction to fossil fuels in two major sectors of our economy. Natural gas isn’t a bridge, it’s a relapse. And it’s time we admit it. [Red & bold emphasis added.]

USA: DOE approves Goven LNG exports via containers (Jan 31) — LNG World News

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) approved Goven Natural Gas Holding’s application to export domestically produced LNG in ISO IM07/TVAC-ASME LNG containers transported on ocean going vessels, in a volume up to the equivalent of 2 Bcf of natural gas.

Goven [of Miami, FL] plans to export this proposed volume of LNG to the free trade agreement (FTA) nations of Dominican Republic, El Salvador. Guatemala. Honduras, and Nicaragua. The company won the authorization for a two-year term.

President Obama announces more key administration posts [Press release] (Jan 30) — The White House, Washington, DC

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:

• Norman C. Bay – Commissioner, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and upon appointment to be designated Chairman

Norman C. Bay, Nominee for Commissioner, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and upon appointment to be designated Chairman

Norman C. Bay is the Director of the Office of Enforcement at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), a position he has held since 2009. Prior to this, Mr. Bay was a Professor of Law at the University of New Mexico from 2002 to 2009. From 2000 to 2001, Mr. Bay was the United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico. He was an Assistant U.S. Attorney from 1989 to 2000, an Attorney-Adviser at the United States Department of State from 1988 to 1989, and a Law Clerk for the Honorable Otto R. Skopil, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1986 to 1987. Mr. Bay received a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Webmaster's comment: It is not obvious how Mr. Bay views imported LNG. Here is his FERC Office of Enforcement webpage: http://www.ferc.gov/about/offices/oe/oe-bay.asp