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Business & Labor
CB&I Lands $1-Billion Contract for Texas LNG Terminal
(texas.construction.com,
September 2006 issue)
By Eileen Schwartz
A new $1 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Southeast
Texas is expected to add about 2 billion cu. ft. per day to
the U.S. LNG market after completion in 2009.
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| Site clearing has
started on the new Golden Pass LNG terminal. The facility
will employ more than 1,000 workers at peak construction
activity. |
Golden Pass LNG LLC recently awarded
a contract to CB&I of The Woodlands for a liquefied natural
gas terminal near Sabine Pass. CB&I's work includes the
engineering, procurement and construction of facilities. Site
preparation is under way and CB&I expects to begin hiring
craft labor shortly.
Golden Pass LNG is the owner of the
Golden Pass LNG terminal. About 70 percent will be owned by
an affiliate of Qatar Petroleum, with ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips
each owning a share in the balance of the interest.
According to the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, about 40 LNG terminals are either before the FERC
or being discussed by the LNG industry for North America.
Four terminals are currently operating in the lower 48 states,
a fifth in Alaska and a sixth serves Puerto Rico.
"The U.S. consumes about 64 billion
cu. ft. per day of natural gas," said Bill Cooper, executive
director for the Center for Liquefied Natural Gas. "About
2.5 percent comes from LNG. We expect that to grow to 16 percent."
Many industry analysts predict that
only 12 of the 40 LNG terminals being considered will be built.
The National Petroleum Council estimates seven to nine new
LNG terminals will be built over the next decade.
"Seven to nine is a loose estimate,"
Cooper said. "It could be 10, five, whatever the market
mandates or can stand."
"LNG as a part of the overall energy
mix is becoming more important and is increasing," said
Bob Davis, spokesperson for Golden Pass LNG.
"The Golden Pass terminal will
have the capacity to process 15.6 million tons a year of LNG,"
said Bruce Steimle, spokesperson for CB&I. "That's
the equivalent of approximately 2 billion cu. ft. of natural
gas per day."
"That's significant," Cooper
said. "Especially if you consider that the operational
capacity for the lower 48 states is in the neighborhood of
4.5 billion cu. ft. per day."
The terminal itself will import LNG
from Qatar. LNG is made when natural gas is chilled to 260°
F. The volume of the natural gas then liquefies to a volume
of 1/600 compared to its gaseous form. When it is reduced
to 600 times, it can be economically transported.
The project includes the construction
of two ship unloading berths, five full-containment storage
tanks, vaporization facilities, gas send-out and ship unloading
systems. Once the terminal is operational, it will employ
about 75 people and will receive a tanker every two to three
days.
Next year construction will begin on
a 70-plus-mile-long pipeline that will extend from the terminal
site to a gas sales and metering center in Starks, La.
At its peak, the project is expected
to employ more than 1,000 construction workers and create
job opportunities for local subcontractors, suppliers and
laborers.
"The impact on local businesses, subcontractors and suppliers
will be substantial," said Steimle. "Globally, the
project represents the development of a key LNG supply source
for the U.S."
"Today the U.S. demand is outstripping
our domestic natural gas supply and imports we receive from
Canada," said Cooper. "It's projected that the trend
will continue, and in fact the gap will widen. The way to
fill that gap is with LNG. It will play a major role in meeting
demands for natural gas in the future."
Sabine Pass is south of Port Arthur,
Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico at the Louisiana border. The
area, known as the Golden Triangle, was hard hit last year
by Hurricane Rita, which plowed through the area ripping down
power lines, damaging homes and business and flooding refineries.
"The EPC is more than $1 billion
and encompasses a three-year construction period," Davis
said. "It will provide a needed economic infusion into
the Golden Triangle."
The LNG, liquefied in Qatar, will be
transferred to tankers and transported across the ocean into
the Gulf of Mexico. The vessels will berth at the terminal,
where the liquefied gas is regasified back into natural gas.
It can then be put into a pipeline and transported where it's
needed.
"That's the beauty of LNG,"
Davis said.
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