ChevronTexaco executive calls for more collaboration, flexibility
and speed to build LNG import facilities
Posted: 18 December 2003
Future shortfalls of natural gas in North America can be mitigated
if government and the energy industry act decisively to establish
facilities for importing liquefied natural gas (LNG), a top ChevronTexaco
official said.
Large natural gas resources around the world await development,
and many countries want the benefits of this clean-burning fuel,
Peter Robertson, ChevronTexaco vice chairman, told the first LNG
Ministerial Summit in Washington, D.C. Energy companies stand ready
to link the two, he said, but LNG projects require extensive government
review, huge capital investments and long lead times.
Failure to establish North American LNG import capacity in a timely
manner "could lead to gas-supply shortfalls and volatile prices
later in this decade, with dire consequences for the economy,"
said Robertson.
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Energy Association,
the summit brought together officials from energy companies and
the world's largest natural gas-producing countries. Robertson called
on all participants in the LNG industry to work more closely together
on new infrastructure, especially for North America's West Coast.
Let's "recognize both the opportunity and the urgency,"
he said during a panel moderated by energy expert Daniel Yergin
of Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA). "The National
Petroleum Council estimates that the United States will need a seven-fold
increase in LNG supplies. I hope the dialogue about West Coast LNG
can soon be moved to the top of the regional agenda. Uncertainty
about energy is the enemy of economic development."
Robertson also acknowledged the importance of embracing the general
public, "We know that LNG is an industry with an outstanding
safety record -- but we must appreciate that not everyone knows
this. In North America and especially the West Coast, we cannot
go forward unless people are fully informed and supportive."
He continued, "After all, our neighbors and fellow citizens
are the ultimate end customers of the LNG industry."
ChevronTexaco is working on LNG-export projects in Africa, Australia
and Latin America to serve markets in Asia, Europe and North America,
where it plans to build the Port Pelican LNG import terminal off
the Louisiana coast. Several companies including ChevronTexaco are
proposing terminals for California and Baja California, Mexico,
which, like the United States, faces potential future shortfalls
of gas.
Chilled to minus-260 degrees Fahrenheit, natural gas shrinks to
1/600th of its volume and becomes a liquid transportable in special
tankers. Delivered to terminals, the liquid is "regasified"
for use in industrial facilities and power plants, or fed into pipelines
for use by businesses and consumers. LNG from Australia, Indonesia
and other producers has been used in Japan and other countries for
many years, and the U.S. has recently increased imports as well.
But new North America infrastructure is required to handle the much
larger LNG imports needed in the future, experts say.
Based in San Ramon, Calif., ChevronTexaco is the second-largest
U.S.-based energy company and the fifth largest in the world, based
on market capitalization. ChevronTexaco is one of the world's largest
producers and marketers of natural gas, producing approximately
4.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day in countries throughout
the world.
For more information see http://www.chevrontexaco.com.
Posted by Richard Price,
Editor Pipeline Magazine
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