Calhoun LNG Project, Texas, USA

With LNG as one of the major fuels of the future the number of LNG regasification facilities across the globe is increasing all the time. The US is set to be one of the largest consumers of natural gas and as such is constructing a number of import terminals. The latest import terminal project is the Calhoun LNG facility at Port Lavaca-Point Comfort in Texas on the Matagorda Ship Channel, 100 miles south-west of Houston.

The facility is being developed by Gulf Coast LNG Partners LP (GCLP) of Houston and is expected to be in operation by 2011-2012.

The project will have an LNG import facility with two 160,000m³ (5.7 million cubic feet) LNG storage tanks and the facility to regasify one billion cubic feet of natural gas a day.

The project will also include the construction of the new Point Comfort pipeline that will run from the terminal and connect with the pipeline system supplying Texas and the Midwestern region.

The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an order for the project in 2007. In March 2007 GCLP announced that a new consortium comprising KOGAS, LG International, and Houston based EMS Group (to be called Port Lavaca LNG Services LLC) will be the operator of the new Calhoun LNG terminal The consortium has operations and maintenance experience of running three LNG terminals in Korea. Port Lavaca LNG Services LLC will also be investing in the terminal itself to become equity partners.

POINT COMFORT PIPELINE

The new $62.6m Point Comfort pipeline will be 27 miles long and constructed of 36in-diameter pipe with the ability to transfer one billion cubic feet of natural gas a day.

The pipeline will integrate with nine major pipelines (five interstate and four intrastate). The pipeline will be connected to five billion cubic feet a day of pipeline takeaway capacity, to transfer gas to over two-thirds of gas consumers in the US and Northern Mexico.

Overall connections for the Point Comfort pipeline will include Energy Transfer (Houston Pipe Line / Channel System), Florida Gas Transmission, Kinder Morgan (Texas and Tejas Systems), Enterprise (Valero and Channel Systems), Boardwalk (Gulf South System), Natural Gas Pipeline of America, Transcontinental and Tennessee Gas. The final connection of the pipeline will be with Tennessee Gas, about three miles southwest of Edna in Jackson County.

REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE SITE

Port Lavaca-Point Comfort was chosen for the LNG terminal for several reasons. These include:

• Financial support for the development from Port Lavaca-Point Comfort
• Existing deepwater port and facilities infrastructure
• The plant would be close to the existing US gas supply grid for easy integration
• There are many potential industrial customers in the area including the petrochemicals industry

The plant site is situated just south of the Alcoa Alumina and Chemical complex and close to the Formosa Chemicals' petrochemical facilities (customers will include Formosa Hydrocarbons Company and Formosa Plastics Company).

CALHOUN LNG FACILITIES

The LNG berthing facility will be equipped to accept all sizes of LNG tankers. The unloading area will have three 16in-diameter articulated unloading arms and one 16in flexible vapour return arm.

The unloading area will also be fully equipped with emergency shutdown controls in case of a spill during unloading.

The two storage tanks will be of a full containment design. The facility will also have a vaporisation and separation system to warm the liquefied gas back to the gas state ready for transfer and to separate out and store any liquids produced.

The facility will also have a natural gas liquids separation system to retain ethane and propane in liquid form to sell to petrochemical plants as feedstocks for a higher value than these products would otherwise achieve in gaseous form. The facility will have automatic fire detection and emergency systems and a central control room and administration building linked to the exiting port control room.