In May 2017, we wrote three
articles addressing the then-pending and approved applications for
LNG export projects in the United States. Since that time, many legal
developments have occurred and so we will once again provide a discussion of
LNG export developments through a planned five-part series.
The first two articles in the series
addressed approved applications for LNG export projects in the United States
with the first article providing an
overview on the development of six projects in Louisiana and the second one focusing on five
projects in Texas and one project in Georgia that have been approved by both
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the U.S Department of
Energy (DOE).
The third article in our series addressed
the status of pending LNG export project applications in the states of Alaska,
Florida, and Louisiana. This article will address the status of similar
applications in the states of Mississippi, Oregon, and Texas. The final article
in our series will provide an overview of LNG export projects that have moved
beyond the mere application stage and are currently in operation.
Mississippi:
The
Gulf LNG Liquefaction Project (FERC docket CP15-521)
The Gulf LNG Liquefaction
Project would expand the existing Gulf LNG Terminal located near Pascagoula in
Jackson County, Mississippi, by adding liquefaction and export facilities with
a capable capacity to export up to 11.5 million metric tonnes per annum (Mtpa).
In May 2012, Gulf LNG filed an
application with DOE for long-term authorization to export up to 547.5 Bcf per
year of LNG to Free Trade Agreement (FTA) countries, which was approved in June 2012. Gulf
LNG filed an application in August 2012 to export LNG to Non-Free Trade
Agreement, and this application remains under consideration by DOE.
On June 19, 2015, Gulf LNG
filed a permit application before FERC under Section 3 of the Natural Gas Act
to construct and operate the Gulf LNG Liquefaction Project. On April 17, 2019,
FERC released a final
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the project concluding that “approval
of the proposed Project, with the mitigation measures recommended in the EIS,
would have some adverse environmental impacts; however, these impacts would be
avoided or reduced to less-than-significant levels.”
On September 7, 2018, FERC
published a Notice of
Anticipated Schedule for the Gulf LNG Liquefaction Project in the Federal
Register and expects to reach a decision regarding a final order on July 16,
2019.
Oregon:
The
Jordan Cove LNG Project (FERC docket CP17-494)
The Jordan Cove LNG Project proposes a new LNG export
terminal and associated facilities located across the North Spit of Coos Bay,
in Coos County, Oregon, which would have the capacity to export up to 7.8
million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of LNG per year. This LNG Project has generated
strong opposition from a number of local organizations, and this opposition has
led to additional legal challenges for the project’s proponents. According to Citizens Against
LNG,
one of the groups opposed to the Jordan Cove LNG Project, this project “would
not only negatively impact coastal shorelands, it would be located in a tsunami
inundation and earthquake subduction zone, directly across the Coos Estuary …
from the cities of North Bend, Coos Bay and the Southwest Oregon Regional
Airport.”
Jordan Cove Energy Project,
L.P. (JCEP) filed two separate applications with DOE for authorizations to
export LNG to FTA and NFTA countries in September 2011 and March 2012,
respectively. DOE approved JCEP’s request to
export approximately 438 Bcf per year of LNG to FTA countries in December 2011.
DOE also allowed, in March 2014, JCEP to export up to the equivalent of 292 Bcf per year
of LNG to NFTA countries on a conditional basis. In granting this approval, DOE
declared that it “intends to monitor developments that could tend to undermine
the public interest in grants of successive applications for exports of
domestically produced LNG and … to attach terms and conditions to the
authorization in this proceeding and to succeeding LNG export authorizations as
are necessary for protection of the public interest.” On July 20, 2018, DOE approved a reduction in the
approved export volume from 1.2 Bcf per day to 1.08 Bcf per day, at the request
of JCEP. JCEP also applied for a reduction in the approved NFTA export volume,
and that request is currently being reviewed by DOE.
On September 21, 2017, FERC
received an application from JCEP for
authorization under Section 3 of the Natural Gas to site, construct, and
operate the Jordan Cove LNG Project. On March 29, 2019, FERC issued a draft
Environmental Impact Statement for the Jordan Cove Project. FERC indicated that
this project would create adverse environmental effects and impact the housing
in Coos Bay as well as the visual character of the city. FERC also indicated
that the project would affect 13 federally-listed threatened and endangered
species including the marbled murrelet, northern spotted owl, and coho salmon. FERC,
however, concluded that most of these impacts could be reduced to less than
significant levels with the implementation of recommended mitigation measures.
Based on the revised and current
schedule for the Jordan Cove LNG Project published by FERC in the Federal
Register on March 6, 2019, a final version of the Environmental Impact
Statement was expected on October 11, 2019, and a final decision on the project
was anticipated on January 9, 2020.
On May 6, 2019, however, the
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) denied JCEP’s request for a
Section 401 Water Quality Certification (WQC) that was filed on October 24,
2017. The 401 Certification is a key permit necessary for the construction of
the facility. In its denial letter, Oregon DEQ
explained that it “does not have a reasonable assurance that the construction
and operation of the Project will comply with applicable Oregon water quality
standards” based on DEQ’s Evaluation and Findings
Report. DEQ stated that this decision was made without prejudice, leaving it
up to JCEP to decide whether it will request a contested case hearing or
reapply for a Section 401 WQC submitting “additional information that is
responsive to the bases for denial in this decision.”
Texas:
The
Texas LNG Liquefaction Project (FERC CP16-116)
The Texas LNG Liquefaction Project proposes to
construct and operate new LNG export facilities on the Brownsville Ship Channel
in Cameron County, Texas, including a terminal facility foreseen to have a
capacity to export 2 million metric tonnes per annum (Mtpa).
Texas LNG Brownsville, LLC,
owner of the Project, filed an application before DOE for authorizations to
export up to 4 million tonnes per annum of LNG to FTA and NFTA countries in April
2015. Texas LNG Brownsville, LLC, received authorization to
export up to the equivalent of 204.4 Bcf per year of natural gas to FTA
countries in September 2015. DOE is still reviewing the application concerning the
export of LNG to NFTA countries.
On March 31, 2016, Texas LNG
Brownsville, LLC, filed an application with FERC under Section 3 of the Natural
Gas Act for authorization to construct and operate the project. On March 15,
2019, FERC issued a final
Environmental Impact Statement for the Texas LNG Project providing a favorable
outlook for the continuation of the project. FERC’s deadline to issue a final
decision is set on June 13, 2019.
The
Rio Grande LNG Project (FERC docket CP16-454)
On May 5, 2016, NextDecade requested authorization from
FERC to develop the Rio Grande LNG
Project in Cameron County, Texas, which would include the construction and
operation of six liquefaction trains, each with a capacity to export up to 4.5
million tons per annum (Mtpa); four LNG storage tanks, and two LNG vessel
berths, among other things. On April 26, 2019, FERC issued a final
Environmental Impact Statement for the Rio Grande LNG Project providing a favorable
outcome for the project.
According to a media report dated May 28,
2019, NextDecade recently entered into two Engineering, Procurement and
Construction (EPC) agreements with Bechtel for the construction of the project.
The media report states that the “EPC contracts are for the first phase of the
Rio Grande LNG Project, which consists of three liquefaction trains, two
180,000 cubic meter storage tanks and two marine berths.”
The Annova
LNG Brownsville Project (FERC docket CP16-480)
The proposed Annova LNG Brownsville Project would involve the
construction and operation of a new LNG export terminal, including natural gas
pretreatment and liquefaction facilities, two LNG storage tanks and marine dock,
and LNG transfer facilities, among others, with a capacity to produce
approximately 6.95 million metric tonnes per year of LNG for export. This
project would be located in the Port of Brownsville, Texas.
In February 2014, Annova LNG
obtained approval from DOE to export
up to 342 Bcf per year of natural gas to FTA countries. Annova LNG has not filed
any applications regarding LNG export to NFTA countries at this point in time.
On April 19, 2019, FERC released a final
Environmental Impact Statement for the Annova LNG Brownsville Project and found
that the project would create adverse consequences to the environment, but that
they could be avoided or minimized if properly addressed. With regard to these
impacts, FERC declared that “the Project, combined with other projects in the
geographic scope, including the Rio Grande LNG and Texas LNG Projects, would
result in significant cumulative impacts from: construction noise during
nighttime pile-driving; sediment/turbidity and shoreline erosions within the
Brownsville Ship Channel during operations from vessel transits; on the
federally listed ocelot and jaguarundi from habitat loss and potential for
increased vehicular strikes during construction; on the federally listed
aplomado falcon from habitat loss; and on visual resources from the presence of
aboveground structures.”
References:
The
Gulf LNG Liquefaction Project (FERC docket CP15-521)
The
Jordan Cove LNG Project (FERC docket CP17-494)
The
Texas LNG Liquefaction Project (FERC CP16-116)
The
Rio Grande LNG Project (FERC docket CP16-454)
The
Annova LNG Brownsville Project (FERC docket CP16-480)
Additional
Resources:
This material is based upon work supported by the National Agricultural Library, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Check out SAVE RGV from LNG's website at www.savergvfromlng.com/ and Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/saveRGVfromLNG/.
ReplyDeleteWe started fighting LNG export operations targeting our local Port of Brownsville (next door to South Padre Island) in May 2014.
The Port of Brownsville is also next door to the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge and the Bahia Grande (the largest wetlands restoration project in North America, part of the Lower Laguna Madre); in the middle of a Texas-Mexico wildlife corridor; in an area where a number of migratory bird paths converge; and in an area containing sites sacred to the 'Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas (Esto’k Gna). The LNG project sites are zoned Commercial but would involve greenfield instead of brownfield construction.
In 2015, Port Isabel, Laguna Vista, South Padre Island, and Long Island Village passed resolutions opposing LNG.
So far, NextDecade's paired Rio Grande LNG and Rio Bravo Pipeline, Annova LNG, and Texas LNG have not yet been able to put shovel to ground here. FERC has SCHEDULED all three for approval this year (2019) -- but all three are behind schedule. NextDecade has also held Open Houses on its proposed Galveston Bay LNG & Pipeline Header System projects, but those projects aren't scheduled to be operational until 2027.
> Update on NextDecade's Rio Grande LNG project:
On 12-12-2018, NextDecade crowed about how the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality had approve its air quality permit and disapproved all the Contested Hearing requests. But on 03-12-2019 three groups appealed the disapproval of their Contested Hearing requests to the Travis County TX 250th Judicial District Court (Cause Number D-1-GN-19-001306).
On 05-30-2019, the Sierra Club and other Intervenors asked FERC to issue a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on NextDecade's Rio Grande LNG project. They claimed that the company's May 2019 Corporate Presentation indicated that the project would produce more LNG than stipulated in the project's April 2019 Final Environmental Impact Statement. See "Environmentalists ask FERC to take second look at Brownsville LNG project," Jessica Corso, 06-03-2019, San Antonio Business Journal, https://www.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/news/2019/06/03/environmentalists-ask-ferc-to-take-second-look-at.html.
The next day, NextDecade edited its May 2019 Corporate Presentation to remove the word "debottlenecking" from Slide 24, then filed a 06-03-2019 rebuttal to the Sierra Club et all's request for a Supplemental EIS, and then replaced its May 2019 Corporate Presentation with an UNDATED Presentation that seems to promise investors even greater LNG production possibilities.
It seems as if NextDecade is falling all over itself trying to tell investors one thing and FERC another -- to keep the investors investing but to avoid having to do a Supplemental EIS that would put the project even further behind schedule.
See the Sierra Club request for a Supplemental EIS at http://elibrary.FERC.gov/idmws/file_list.asp?accession_num=20190530-5516 and the NextDecade rebuttalat http://elibrary.FERC.gov/idmws/file_list.asp?accession_num=20190603-5136.
> Update on the Texas LNG Project:
On 06-12-2019 the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality granted Port Isabel's request for a Contested Hearing on Texas LNG's TCEQ air quality permit application. This will delay the permit by five or so months. See "Texas LNG state permit sent to contested case hearing," Sergio Chapa, 06-12-2019, Houston Chronicle, https://m.chron.com/business/energy/article/Texas-LNG-state-permit-sent-to-contested-case-13971238.php?fbclid=IwAR2ItTXeOlT0VJ6KBYbsEPqJsr0HJrT-C02gCZYEYHE9H6Ls1VwkpHw8O1k.