FW: FERC Re-Opens Cove Point Approval

F/y/i-- See article below -- It looks like there may be a shortage of terminal capacity (and some surplus LNG supply) for awhile.

Dan Rogers

-----Original Message-----
From: "Weems, Philip" <PWeems@KSLAW.com<@ENRON
Sent: Monday, November 12, 2001 1:44 PM
To: Rogers, Daniel R.
Subject: FW: FERC Re-Opens Cove Point Approval

< Monday November 12, 1:46 pm Eastern Time
< U.S. to reconsider LNG plant due to security fears
< WASHINGTON, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Due to national security concerns, the
< Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said it will reconsider its decision
< last month to approve the restart of a liquefied natural gas plant near
< the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant in southern Maryland.
<
< The Williams Cos won FERC's approval on Oct. 12 to re-open and expand the
< company's Cove Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, despite concerns
< that the facility could be subject to sabotage that would threaten a
< nearby nuclear plant owned by Constellation Energy Group.
< In an order issued on Friday, FERC said it would be ``in the public
< interest to reconsider'' the agency's reactivation decision and hold a
< technical conference ``to take further evidence with respect to national
< security implications'' connected with restarting the plant.
< An LNG facility in Boston had been closed by state officials following the
< Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Officials
< feared an LNG tanker entering Boston harbor could be subject to sabotage,
< causing massive damage.
< Williams wants to resume LNG shipments to the Cove Point plant during the
< second quarter of 2002. The company also plans to build a fifth storage
< tank at the site that could hold up to 2.5 billion cubic feet of gas.
< The Cove Point plant, built in 1974, was bought by Williams last year from
< Columbia Energy Group for $150 million. The plant stopped importing
< natural gas in the early 1980s, but reopened as a natural gas storage site
< about 10 years later.
< State, local and federal officials with have been asked to participate in
< the FERC conference, which will take place at the agency's headquarters on
< Nov. 16.
< ``In view of the nature of the national security issues to be explored,
< the conference will not be open to the pubic,'' FERC said.
< LNG is kept at ultra-cold temperatures and compressed for transport aboard
< special tankers.
< It begins as natural gas in a vapor form. The manufacturing process cools
< the gas to minus-259 degrees Fahrenheit, changing the gas into a liquid
< and shrinking it to less than 1/600th of its original size.
< LNG, which is odorless and colorless, is then loaded into tankers and
< shipped to markets where it is converted back into dry gas for electric
< power generation or another use as a fuel source. LNG facilities are also
< located in Massachusetts, Louisiana and Georgia.
<
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