Stephanie Jackter - 11-5-2002 at 07:25 PM
I'm afraid I don't know northern Baja past Santa Rosalia at all. Can you tell me a little bit about the Rosarito area? Also, why does the U.S.
customs discourage business with the Oasis resort, for instance?- Stephanie
Dave - 11-5-2002 at 10:10 PM
Steph, the U.S. government has placed the Oasis hotel (located between TJ and Rosarito)off limits to it's citizens because it suspects(probably true)
drug connections. If you stay there you better not use a credit card or big brother will pay you a call. I find it odd and evasive that our government
should dictate where we spend our money(outside it's borders) especially since the drug profits in question are directly derived from American
citizens. It's like the pot calling the kettle black. There wouldn't be a smuggling problem from Mexico if U.S. citizens wouldn't use illegal drugs.
The gas plant and gasification of the electric plant in Rosarito would actually improve the environment around Rosaito. As is, the electric generating
facility,which runs on fuel oil, produces tons of soot which is an air pollutant hazard and oil offloading from the ocean is a disaster waiting to
happen. A Liquid gas facility would improve the lives of thousands who now depend on propane. At any rate it's probably a moot point since the oil
companies will,with their influence, prevail.
Stephanie Jackter - 11-6-2002 at 10:10 AM
Just curious. What are the ramifications if the US does catch your credit card being used at the Oasis or that farmacia?
I have a friend who insists that the Crown Plaza in La Paz was built wholly and totally to launder drug money. She provided no evidence, though, only
rumors. Are there official edicts from the US govt. concerning the Oasis? And how are they disseminated so that people know? The implications of Big
Brother watching what we do aside, it seems like sanctions would be difficult to enforce.
In case you're feeling paranoid about the whole thing, don't worry. They really ARE watching us!!!-Stephanie 
just gossip
reefrocket - 11-6-2002 at 02:43 PM
what I remember from the post I read months ago was that there are informents (by reward, mex or USA persons) for who snitch on purchasers form the
pharmica. They point out the person at boarder and all purchases are conficated or some thing like that. As far as the Oasis the Fed would probably
assume the right to LOOK strongly at a persons TAX returns etc.
The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end
and no responsibility at the other. -- Ronald Reaga
Stephanie Jackter - 11-6-2002 at 03:06 PM
Great Quote! I'll have to remeber that one.-Stephanie
Q87 - 11-9-2002 at 01:49 PM
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20021107-9999_1b...
BajaNomad - 11-9-2002 at 05:36 PM
I keep getting confused over who's doing what and where.
First, I read Sempra had property they were going to use around the port of Ensenada... but now near Bajamar?
Shell had something going around Rosarito, and Phillips/El Paso had bought a whole bunch of property near the Pemex facility at the north end of
Rosarito (possibly affecting Baja Malibu???).
I had read Marathon had plans in, or near Tijuana.... which I assume is still the case...
What a wild and wacky ordeal.
A little more info on who and where...
Q87 - 11-11-2002 at 12:09 PM
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/business/1655028
Stephanie Jackter - 11-12-2002 at 02:18 PM
The only problem is probably going to be the numbers of plants like it. Looks like they want a gas plant on every street corner from the numbers of
permits that are being sought.- Stephanie
BajaNomad - 11-25-2002 at 10:10 PM
Just keep adding news notes as I run across them...
Mexico, Nov 21, 2002 (El Financiero/SABI via COMTEX) -- Due to the 6% annual increase in demand for natural gas in Mexico, the Marathon company is
considering constructing a regasification plant at a cost of US$400mil. The project is attracting iattention from multinationals like Sempra, Shell
and Gaz de France, who have been expressing interest in participating in this type of project, as it would help to stabilize prices for this fuel.
Marathon says that the plant would be located in Baja California and would have a daily capacity of 750mil cubic feet. It would have a maritime
terminal for the tankers which would transport the liquified gas to export markets. The transportation would be in the hands of the Golar LGN company.
BajaNomad - 11-29-2002 at 10:22 AM
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/fri/news/news_1...
Dave - 11-29-2002 at 12:16 PM
I'll bet the energy companies and the Mexican government long for the days when a handshake and payoffs were all it took to get something done. I'm
glad that the citizens are involved in the process however I think they are asking the wrong questions. My concerns are these:
Why, since Sempra has built a pipeline to the Rosarito electric facility, has the plant not converted to gas?
How much of the energy produced by the new generating facilities will be available for Mexican consumption and at what price?
What infrastructure does marathon GUARANTEE to be built to deliver gas to the people in the TJ to Ensenada corridor and beyond?
It's nice that the companies offer to build schools or basketball courts but the issue is ENERGY and what piece of the pie does Mexico get.
JESSE - 11-29-2002 at 05:41 PM
I live in Playas, and theres a growing number of vecinos organized to stop this gas plant from beign built. The new plant is supposed to be built in
la Jolla, thats before real del mar and San Antonio del mar.
What people are saying here is that they dont see any benefits whats so ever from the construction of this plant, and the potential problems are many,
also they dont understand why if the plants are beign constructed in Baja if they are going to provide california with energy.
The oposition here is growing and its going to represent a big problem for this gas company.
We already stoped the construction of a company that wanted to build and incenirator for industrial waste.
Tijuana City Plan Does Not Permit LNG Complex
BajaNomad - 12-5-2002 at 12:58 AM
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20021204-9999_1b4l...
By Diane Lindquist
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
December 4, 2002
Marathon Oil's proposed energy complex in Tijuana violates the city's urban development plan and can't be built on the site the company chose next to
an upscale beachfront suburb, according to Tijuana's city manager.
But another Tijuana official contends the matter is not yet settled, and Marathon officials say they will forge ahead with the $1.5 billion project at
that site.
The huge complex would include a liquefied natural gas re-gasification plant, desalinization and waste water treatment facilities, an electrical power
plant and a long pier to receive LNG-filled ocean tankers.
But city manager Ra?l Leggs V?zquez said industrial development isn't permitted in the city's coastal zone, which includes both the La Joya site where
the plant would be located and the adjacent Playas de Tijuana neighborhood.
Tijuana's urban development plan permits only housing and related development, Leggs told The San Diego Union-Tribune.
"We suggest they look for another site," he said.
Tijuana economic development secretary Humberto Inzunza Fonseca, however, said the urban plan is not set in stone.
"Sometimes those plans change," he said.
Inzunza said other Tijuana residents, including members of several local business associations, believe such a project is needed to sustain Baja
California's economic growth.
Marathon recently picked up the expenses for Inzunza and M?ximo Garcia Hern?ndez, a member of Tijuana's human development staff, to travel to Japan to
visit the company's liquefied natural gas facility near Tokyo.
"We saw a very impressive facility there," Inzunza said. "But in the end, the entire city of Tijuana has to be involved in the decision."
Marathon spokesman Paul Weeditz said the company worked diligently in settling on La Joya as the best site for its regional energy complex. La Joya,
he noted, already has several industrial facilities, including Tijuana's waste water treatment plant.
"We plan to continue to pursue obtaining the necessary permits for the regional energy center," he said, "and will continue to work with local, state
and federal authorities to develop this important project that will bring substantial economic, social and environmental benefits to the region."
Playas residents, who compare their neighborhood to Coronado and La Jolla in San Diego, said they were encouraged by the city manager's position. But
Gabriela Johnston, who is among those leading the campaign against the project's development at La Joya, said they know the urban plan can be amended
under certain circumstances.
"We can't be completely sure until we hear it from the mayor and the city council," she said. "That's our next step, to work with them so we can relax
and stop fighting."
Marathon's complex is the second of nearly a score of controversial energy projects in Baja California to be affected by community pressure.
Gov. Eugenio Elorduy Walther and Rosarito Beach Mayor Luis Enrique D?az, in response to complaints from Rosarito Beach residents, have spoken against
construction of a ConocoPhillips-El Paso Corp. liquefied natural gas re-gasification plant on Rosarito Beach's northern outskirts.
Federal officials have refused to grant that project an environmental permit.
But the energy companies plan to reapply for the permit, ConocoPhillips spokesman Bill Taylor said. And they hope eventually to win local residents'
support.
"If the community wants it or if they decide it's not what they want, that is what will make the determination," Taylor said.
BajaNomad - 12-12-2002 at 10:13 PM
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20021211-9999_1b...
OH... You've GOT TO see/read this....
BajaNomad - 1-4-2003 at 02:53 PM
This is a report from PBS' "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer".... follow the link for the transcript, but there's also a link at the top of the page to
WATCH the report (w/ Real Player or Windows Media Player).
Very, very, very, very interesting. Damn.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/jan-june03/power_1-2...
Here's the video link:
http://pbs-newshour.virage.com/cgi-bin/visearch?user=pbs-new...
[Edited on 1-4-2003 by BajaNomad]
BajaNomad - 3-9-2003 at 10:27 AM
CRE to rule on LNG permits by July
March 05, 2003
Mexico's energy regulator CRE will respond by July to permit applications for liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects from a number of major oil and gas
companies this year, CRE spokesperson Victor Ochoa told BNamericas.
US oil company Marathon will hear back on its application to develop a US$1.5bn energy center project in Baja California state some time in March,
Ochoa said.
San Diego-based power company Sempra Energy plans to build a US$400mn regasification plant at Ensenada in Baja California, and can expect word from
the CRE in April.
The CRE has slated Shell Gas & Power, which has plans to invest US$500mn in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) re-gasification terminal at Ensenada in
Mexico's Baja California state, for a response in June.
Shell also plans to team up with the US' El Paso for an LNG receiving terminal at Altamira in Tamaulipas state, and can expect a response from the CRE
in June, Ochoa continued, adding that the regulator will decide on the application from US oil company ChevronTexaco to build an LNG terminal at
Tijuana in July.
By Colin Monaghan
http://www.bnamericas.com/story.xsql?id_noticia=234924&Tx_id...