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Own It Now — Passamaquoddy Birch Bark Canoe

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The Green Coast

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In engineering terms, the Cutler site has excellent characteristics for the placement of an LNG terminal and connectivity to an existing pipeline.

WEBMASTER'S COMMENTS: Engineer Normand Laberge's LNG proposal demonstrates that both Dean Girdis of Downeast LNG and Brian Smith of Quoddy Bay LLC were lying when they stated that the water at Cutler is too shallow for an LNG terminal.

FERC official criticizes political attempts to thwart U.S. LNG development — LNG Law Blog, Washington, DC

[FERC's Director of the Office of Energy Projects Mark Robinson] cited as a recent example the attempt by Massachusetts politicians to scuttle the Weaver’s Cove LNG project by inserting a provision in a federal transportation bill that would impede the passage of LNG vessels en route to the facility proposed for Fall River, Mass. (May 17)

WEBMASTER'S COMMENTS: The Fall River LNG proposal violates world-class SIGTTO LNG-industry safety standards. Robinson's remarks prove that FERC is less interested in embracing safety than in flexing its muscles. When will Congress wake up and require FERC to observe SIGTTO standards?

The early June meetings are designed to allow residents to comment on how the project could affect such things as recreation, wildlife and transportation. (May 18)

The rough road to LNG — Ventura County Reporter, Ventura, CA

According to the EDC, the second draft of the report failed to effectively prove that this gas reserve was even necessary and underestimated or completely ignored an “adequate range” of energy alternatives, such as more environmentally-sound options like energy efficiency, conservation and renewable energy as a solution to a potential energy shortage in the state. Further, according to the EDC, the revised report overlooked safer technologies related to liquid natural gas than those outlined in the project. (May 18)

Finances at issue in LNG dispute — Bangor Daily News, Bangor, ME

A financial dispute between the Passamaquoddy Tribe and an Oklahoma-based developer of a proposed liquefied natural gas facility on tribal land may lead to arbitration, officials on both sides said Tuesday.

Passamaquoddy officials say Quoddy Bay LLC owes the tribe $350,000 in lease payments dating back to last December.

WEBMASTER'S COMMENTS: Quoddy Bay LLC's house of cards appears to be collapsing!

State assails Valdez gas line idea — Anchorage Daily News, Anchorage, AK

Liquefied natural gas shipped down a pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez would be worth less than the gas from Gov. Frank Murkowski's favored Alaska Highway pipeline route, state officials said Tuesday.

WEBMASTER'S COMMENTS: "Liquified natural gas" in the above AP article is undoubtedly a misnomer, since there are no lenghty cryogenic LNG pipelines outside of LNG facilities. The article's author must have meant "natural gas," possibly regasified from LNG.

Murkowski officials pan Alaska LNG idea — KTVA-TV, Anchorage, AK

Gas shipped down an all-Alaska pipeline would be worth less than the gas of a pipeline proposed by the state's three largest producers. That's the conclusion of state petroleum economist Roger Marks and consultant Pedro van Meurs. (May 16)

LNG developers plan to meet long-term energy needs despite decrease in imports — LNG Law Blog, Washington, DC

The Wall Street Journal says that despite a drop in LNG spot cargoes reaching the United States in recent months due to a mild winter and excess stored supply that may adequately fulfill peak consumer demand this summer, LNG developers intend to participate in all aspects of the supply chain to accommodate long-term energy needs.

Emera to build C$350-mln LNG pipeline — Reuters

Canadian energy firm Emera Inc. said on Tuesday it will invest around C$350 million to build a pipeline linking the planned Canaport liquified natural gas import terminal near Saint John, New Brunswick to markets in Canada and the U.S. Northeast.

The report deals specifically with the difficulties of siting LNG facilities, detailing community opposition in Massachusetts and Maine and concluding that until there is a "coordinated way for federal, state and local officials to consider all the infrastructure proposals within the region and decide collectively which are most appropriate given regional needs and community concerns ... the region will continue to find it difficult to build sufficient capacity." (May 15)

WEBMASTER'S COMMENTS: The study overlooks the fact that LNG infrastructure required to fulfill New England's energy needs are already being met by existing and permitted LNG facilities.

FERC must explain why it decided not to award Virginia Natural Gas Inc. a financial remedy for the alleged harm caused by a malfunction in February 2003 of an LNG plant in Chesapeake, Va., owned by Columbia Gas Transmission Corp., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said in a May 12 ruling. (May 15)

Today, representatives from the Gumbo Alliance for Safe LNG will appear before Royal Dutch Shell PLC's shareholders at the company's annual meeting in The Hague, Netherlands. They will voice their concerns over Shell's plans to build an open-loop LNG port off Louisiana's coast.

Lord vows to continue opposition to Maine LNG — Telegraph Journal, Saint John, NB

The premier of New Brunswick says he won't give up efforts to block a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal on the Maine side of Passamaquoddy Bay.

Bernard Lord was hoping for a face-to-face meeting with Maine Governor John Baldacci over the weekend in Rhode Island, but the governor had to cancel.

Instead, Mr. Lord says he stated his case to other Maine officials who did attend the meeting of the Eastern premiers and New England governors.

Opponents of a plan to bring an LNG terminal to Fall River won what one said is a "huge" victory Wednesday afternoon, when the Rhode Island House of Representatives voted 55 to 0 in favor of a bill that would effectively forbid massive LNG tankers from most sections of Narragansett Bay.

The bill, proposed by Rep. Raymond Gallison Jr., must still pass the Senate and be approved by the governor. But Rep. Gallison said the house's overwhelming vote sends a message and bodes well for its ultimate passage.

Under United States Coast Guard regulations, states have the right to protect certain resources — people, piers, wharves, docks, bulkheads, waterfront facilities, flammable materials and the like — inside federally established "exclusion zones." [Bold emphasis added.]

Bernard Lord was hoping for a face-to-face meeting with Maine Governor John Baldacci this weekend in Rhode Island, but the governor had to cancel.

Lord says he's not opposed to other LNG projects further down the Maine coast, just the one on Passamaquoddy Bay, which would require huge tankers to pass through Canadian waters and near tourism-dependent communities like St. Andrews, N.B.

WEBMASTER'S COMMENTS: Does anyone else notice that every time Gov. Baldacci learns that he will be attending a meeting where he'll be facing opposition to LNG in Passamaquoddy Bay, he fails to show up?

Eastern premiers hope ambassador can resolve U.S. passport issue — 680 News, Toronto, ON

The Canadian government has voiced opposition to U.S. proposals for liquefied natural gas terminals along the Maine coast of Passamaquoddy Bay.

New Brunswick and federal officials say they will refuse to allow the huge tankers to pass through Canadian waters to reach the location.

"If the state of Maine wants LNG terminals further south, we have no issues with that," said Premier Bernard Lord.

"It's their right, same as we have an LNG terminal being built in Saint John. But Passamaquoddy Bay is simply not an appropriate site for an LNG terminal."

Lord said he would talk with Maine Gov. John Baldacci about the issue. (May 11)

After meeting with New England congressmen who asked him to hold a regional summit on the siting of liquefied natural gas facilities last week, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman wouldn’t commit Thursday to organizing such a forum. (May 12)

Lawyer asks power supplier to withdraw LNG proposal — Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD

An international trade and investment lawyer who has agreed to represent eastern Baltimore County residents opposed to a proposed liquefied natural gas facility on Sparrows Point yesterday asked the company that wants to build the $400 million facility to withdraw its plan. (May 13)

Gov. Kathleen Blanco has put the energy industry on notice that any liquefied natural gas terminals permitted offshore in the Gulf of Mexico could have to give Louisiana a share of the revenue they generate.

The state receives 27 percent of royalties from wells between 3 miles and 6 miles offshore, but nothing beyond 6 miles. Last year, the federal government banked $5.7 billion in offshore royalties.

Blanco said there has simply been too much wear and tear on the state’s coastline over the decades. (May 11)

Natural gas futures declined to their lowest level in almost a year on Friday amid soaring inventories of the mostly domestic fuel used to heat homes and produce electricity.

Analysts said the price of natural gas could fall even further in the months ahead, given relatively weak demand and expectations of rising supplies, though they cautioned that production in the Gulf of Mexico remains hindered by damage from last year's powerful hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

"Unless we have a repeat of last summer's hurricane season, we're going to have so much (natural) gas in storage by September that we won't have anywhere to put it," said Daniel Lippe of Petral Worldwide Consulting in Houston. [Bold emphasis added] (May 12)

WEBMASTER'S COMMENTS: A Houston natural gas industry consultant announces a weak demand for natural gas, rising natural gas supplies, and nowhere to store it. That's good indication that the Downeast LNG and Quoddy Bay LLC proposals are redundant and unnecessary. It's also good indication that FERC must initiate regional LNG siting procedures, rather than fostering the current and divisive LNG terminal free-for-all.

Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has narrowed its search to eight sites with maximum potential power from tidal for the province estimated to be 90 megawatts. (May 12)

State official questions LNG pier sites — Bangor Daily News, Bangor, ME

Dan Prichard, supervisor of the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands' submerged lands program, raised his concerns about proposals from Quoddy Bay LNG and Downeast LNG in letters filed last week with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The letters are available for public viewing on the Internet, at www.ferc.gov, in the Web site's eLibrary system.

"Given the length of Maine's coastline and the shallow depth and narrow waterway at the proposed terminal site relative to the navigation and berthing requirements for LNG vessels, it is difficult to imagine that the proposed site is the most suitable," Prichard wrote in each letter.

WEBMASTER'S COMMENTS: This is a solid indication that numerous other locations along the Maine coast are eminently better suited to LNG importation than Passamaquoddy Bay. The Passamaquoddy Bay developers have "fudged" their decision-making process to make it seem like their proposed sites are best, but their "fudge" has a really bad taste, and will be thrown out.

The project, if eventually approved, likely would include a tidal power facility in Little Machias Bay and an LNG terminal on the eastern shore of Machias Bay, according to Laberge. Because tidal-power generation levels can be inconsistent, natural gas imported at the LNG terminal would be used to supplement power generation at the site, he has said.

Despite the ruling, many of the records related to the agreement have since been released to the public, said Craig Francis, who represented the tribe. He said although the tribe does not believe it is subject to the FOAA — to which the court agreed in this case — it did not initially release the records because the tribe was still in negotiations with the Oklahoma developer.

"It was not an issue of them not wanting to give up the records," he said, adding that "part of it was a matter of timing."

The unnamed company floated an idea to drop a missile on a gas filled tanker in a remote area.

The fiery experiment was recently propose