Chevron Expects Approval for LNG Terminals by October
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&sid=ag8ad4...
June 15 (Bloomberg) -- ChevronTexaco Corp., the second- largest U.S. oil company, may receive approval within four months to build two liquefied
natural gas import terminals for more than $1.45 billion off the coasts of Louisiana and Mexico.
Permission to build the U.S. Gulf terminal is almost settled, while federal and local filings have been made in Mexico for the Pacific Coast terminal,
ChevronTexaco Chief Executive David O'Reilly told reporters at the Asia Oil & Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur.
``We do expect to hear back on those some time in the next three or four months,'' said O'Reilly.
San Ramon, California-based ChevronTexaco is competing with companies such as ConocoPhillips and Royal Dutch/Shell Group to build terminals to import
LNG from countries including Australia, Russia and Nigeria. U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham has said that more than $100 billion needs to be
invested in LNG projects to meet rising demand for natural gas.
The U.S. Maritime Administration in November approved ChevronTexaco's Port Pelican project to construct the first U.S. offshore terminal for imports
of liquefied natural gas, about 40 miles off the coast of Louisiana, at a cost of more than $800 million. The venture also has ``some of the local
permits,'' O'Reilly, 56, said.
``The encouraging thing there is that the permits are basically in place,'' O'Reilly said. ``We're getting close to the decision point on the design
and construction. We're working on the early design phase.''
Mexico
The terminal, with a capacity of 1.6 billion cubic feet of gas a day, will connect with the company's natural-gas pipeline network in the Gulf of
Mexico.
In Mexico, ChevronTexaco wants to build a $650 million terminal off Baja California to bring LNG to markets in the U.S., Joe Naylor, vice president
for planning and strategy at ChevronTexaco Global Gas, said separately at the Fifth Sino-U.S. Oil and Gas Industry Forum in Shanghai.
``We're very hopeful the permits will come in the next few months,'' Naylor said in an interview. ``We're looking at the North American market and
it's looking to be very attractive.''
ChevronTexaco is looking for partners to take stakes in the Mexican project, which would have the capacity to process 10 million metric tons of LNG a
year, Naylor said.
Australian Gas
``We think we'll retain between 4 to 5 million tons of capacity for this project,'' Naylor said.
ChevronTexaco may seek LNG from Australia and possibly Asia to supply its share of the Baja California project, Naylor said.
As many as three LNG terminals may be built along the U.S. West Coast and six along the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic coasts in the next 10 years, Naylor
said.
Shares of ChevronTexaco rose 48 cents to $90.48 at 9:44 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has risen 21 percent in the past
year.
Exxon Mobil Corp., based in Irving, Texas, is the largest U.S. oil company by revenue.
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