Sempra Broaches Baja LNG Expansion

Sempra Energy is looking to more than double the size of its Energ?a Costa Azul liquefied natural gas terminal under construction near Ensenada, Mexico. The expansion would make import capacity available to Chevron and other firms. The terminal?which will be able to import 1 Bcf/day of gas?could be expanded to bring in up to 2.5 Bcf/day. However, that would require regulatory approvals from Mexican agencies, according to Jennifer Andrews, Sempra spokesperson. ?We have the capacity to expand, and it would be more economical for other companies thinking of building a terminal to use the capacity at ours,? Andrews said. She added that Sempra has spoken to Chevron and other companies about possible expansion. Sempra, she said, still expects to open the facility in 2008. Meanwhile, Chevron is performing engineering and design work on its Terminal GNL Mar Adentro de Baja California, which has received needed permits. The company will make an ?investment decision? next year on whether to build the facility, based in large part on whether it can line up sufficient gas supplies, said Jennifer Walton, Chevron spokesperson. Chevron?s facility would operate in the ocean near the Coronado Islands, which lie off of Rosarito Beach, Mexico?north of Sempra?s project. Meanwhile, at a press conference at the California Independent System Operator?s Alhambra facility last week, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger voiced support for bringing LNG to California. ?I am a proenvironmental person and try to protect the environment,? the governor said. ?But I think we still need LNG as time goes on, because we are really running short on fuel for all those power plants.? To address environmental concerns, he voiced support for energy conservation and a preference for building any LNG terminal offshore. ?I think the key thing is public safety,? Schwarzenegger said. ?I think that the one, for instance, Oxnard, where you build it out approximately 11, 12 miles off the shore, could be probably the most safe one for California.? Schwarzenegger also argued for state control over LNG terminal siting decisions and said that his administration is continuing to fight a move in Congress to preempt state authority over terminal location decisions ( Circuit , June 24, 2005). BHP Billiton, an Australian firm, has proposed a terminal off Oxnard. It is awaiting a permit from the U.S. Coast Guard, which under its licensing procedure must give heavy weight to the governor?s recommendation.

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Sempra Broaches Baja LNG Expansion

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