Proposed liquefied gas projects

The West Coast’s increasing appetite for natural gas has led to proposals for five California receiving points, including one as yet unspecified location off the north coast. California

consumes an average of 6 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, 87% of it imported. Project opponents have voiced safety and pollution concerns. Here is a look at where the five

California and three Baja California proposals stand:

Most of the U.S. offshore projects are in the early stages of federal, state and local review, while the land-based Long Beach Port project follows a different regulatory path. The Mexican

facilities appear closer to completion. (Average production capacity is in cubic feet per day.)

Type: Converted oil platform, no onsite storage, ambient air vaporizer

Status: Plans to submit revised U.S. deepwater port application this summer.

Companies and sites: BHP Billiton, 21 miles southeast of Port Hueneme

Status: Application submitted and draft environmental reports prepared. Final environmental reports may be ready by early summer.

Companies and sites: Woodside Energy, 21.8 miles south of Point Dume, 23.5 miles west of Palos Verdes Peninsula

Type: Buoy links ship to pipeline. No terminal; no storage; no seawater in ship’s warm air vaporizer

Status: Plans to file U.S. deepwater port application this summer.

Companies and sites: Sound Energy Solutions, Conoco-Phillips, Mitsubishi, at Port of Long Beach

Type: Terminal with storage on 25 acres; no seawater in closed circuit vaporizers

Status: Environmental impact drafts prepared. California Coastal Commission and U.S. Coast Guard to consider other forms. Final environmental reports may be ready by fall.

Status: Plans to file U.S. deepwater port application this year, prior to drafting of environmental impact reports.

Project, operating year: Mar Adentro de Baja California, 2008

Type: Storage and seawater vaporizers on offshore concrete island

Status: Planned use of seawater for vaporizing unit prompted an environmental challenge. It has cleared three key Mexican authorizations.

Companies and sites: Moss Maritime; Terminales y Almacenes Maritimos de Mexico, 5.3 miles west of Rosarito

Status: Plan has Mexican environmental clearance and needs two more key authorizations.

Companies and sites: Sempra Energy, 14 miles north of Ensenada

Type: Receiving terminal with open rack seawater vaporizers on 400-acre site

Status: Under construction. Company is working to resolve remaining court challenges and has received all permits.

Sources: ESRI, California Energy Commission, BHP Billiton, Woodside Energy, NorthernStar Natural Gas, Sound Energy Solutions, Chevron, Southern California Gas, LNG Journal

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