Leslie’s Notebook

I love getting out of the office and getting mud on my boots, as they say. Recently I had the opportunity to do just that, and it was really muddy.

I visited Cheniere Energy’s new LNG regas terminal in Cameron Parish, on the Louisiana side of Sabine Pass, about 4 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico. Workers from Bechtel and other contractors scurried over it like ants at a picnic, finishing up final details. The terminal is to receive its first LNG shipment in April or May. Three huge LNG storage tanks are done and two more are under construction in Phase 2 of the massive project.
The site looks so different now from when executive editor Nissa Darbonne, a Louisiana native, drove me through this part of the Pelican State a few years ago. Then, it was all marsh grass and water and low beaches. Today, it is a world-class installation that has the potential to change U.S. gas prices in 2009.

Heavy rains–no surprise in this part of the world–had left the site a sea of mud. As we drove around in a golf cart to access different parts of the 853-acre site, mud splattered up over the low sides of the cart, getting our jeans dirty. Fortunately, the control room with all the computers sits well above this, on the second story of the office building on site.
The plant can vaporize LNG into gas at the rate of 2.6 Bcf a day. Tell me what you think–will incremental gas from increased LNG imports hurt U.S. gas prices significantly, somewhat or not at all?

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.