Energy Secretary Says United States Must Tap Foreign Liquid Natural Gas Supply

The Miami Herald ^ | Saturday, February 28, 2004 | Diane Lindquist

[Willie Green]

Feb. 28--LOS ANGELES - Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said yesterday the United States needs to buy foreign supplies of liquefied natural gas until other energy sources are available to fuel the nation's electric power plants.

Addressing the media after a private meeting with companies planning LNG receiving terminals along the California and Baja California coasts, Abraham said the Energy Department is moving forward on granting permits for the projects, including permits that will allow developers in Mexico to transport gas to the United States.

Abraham said the government's strategy "is to go for the imported gas over the next 20 years. After 20 years, we believe there will be new ways to generate electricity."

[Willie Green]

Holy cow, Spence...
We're already OPEC dependant AND running a $490 BILLION annual Trade Deficit...
How in heaven's name do you figger we can afford to import LNG for another 20 years on top of that?
What have you been smokin' boy?
Get off your fat duff and start pushing development of our own domestic resources...
Cripes almighty, grow a spine and start acting like a conservative.
Build some new nukes. We haven't done anything like that in over 20 years.

[Willie Green]

Ooooooops!

THIS IS AN EXCERPT! Clickety HERE for the rest of the article.

(Sorry!)

[Imagine]

Not to jump to a different subject, but, if we didn't have all those illegial alliens comming into this country, then all those old, gas guzzler cars wouldn't be purchased and driven, all those inneficient fuel oil furnaces in tenemant housing wouldn't be supplied with tax payer supplied oil, and we wouldn't have an energy crisis.

[Tacis]

All they have to do is drill right off the west coast of Florida, right near Tampa. There is a major pool of oil there, just waiting for the Florida left wing conservationists to give their approval!

[Dane]

Not to jump to a different subject, but, if we didn't have all those illegial alliens comming into this country, then all those old, gas guzzler cars wouldn't be purchased and driven, all those inneficient fuel oil furnaces in tenemant housing wouldn't be supplied with tax payer supplied oil, and we wouldn't have an energy crisis

Sheesh, you are pathetic.

Good ole americans are buying SUV's and most of New England residences are heated by heating oil.

You really ought not make such a fool of yourself publicly, although Pat Buchanan would give you a huzzah.

[Cold Heart]

20 years ago the environmentalists stopped construction of an LNG receiving plant in Kalifornia. Also stopped were the huge American Flag, American built, twin screw, LNG fueled tankers that would have brought Alaskan LNG to Kalifornia. If I remember correctly there was an Indian tribe involved too, something about building on a sacred site.

[camas]

no, we need to use coal from Utah to fuel power plants. the hell with clinton

[SolidSupplySide]

We desperately need LNG receiving stations. Currently, the country only has three. All are on the Altantic/Gulf coasts and are basically demonstration projects. The Pacific coast needs the ability to receive LNG and receiving stations need to have greater capacity. Natural gas is currently a continental commodity as it cannot be shipped overseas in large quantities. We need to make it a global commondity like oil. America could then take advantage of relatively cheap natural gas prices from the Middle East and Africa.

There is a philosophy out there that we should drain America's resources first. (Google on "Drain America First".) This worldview is quite misguided. America needs to diversify its energy sources, not restrict them. And if foreigners are willing to sell their energy resources today, why shouldn't America keep its resources in the ground in case of a future international energy crisis?

[monkeywrench]

I believe Jeb opposed the drilling, also.

[SAJ]

Right you are...and not to mention the NG available in huge quantities in the Mexico deeps, in the Overthrust, large parts of the Wyoming Rockies, and throughout very nearly 20% of Alaska.

One other small detail about LNG; the ships transporting it, and yes I'm well aware they have excellent safety equipment and controls, and wonderful safety records, are absolutely nothing in this world except floating bombs. One could HARDLY conceive of a more tempting target for terrorists. LNG port facilities, too.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

ping

[Cold Heart]

LNG is a bulk commodity transported all around the world. We currently ship Alaskan LNG to Japan. Japan also imports LNG from the Persian Gulf. Europe imports LNG by sea. All done on LNG tankers.

[ServesURight]

Willie Green BUMP

[gg188]

And if foreigners are willing to sell their energy resources today, why shouldn't America keep its resources in the ground in case of a future international energy crisis?

Good point. Except I cannot imagine the circumstances in which enviros/Dems would let us go after currently off-limits Alaskan, coastal and other energy sources. And (so far) the Pubbies cave right along with them. The left a) hates what America stands for so much, and b) worships "mother earth" so much, that they would prefer the fall of the West and another Dark Age to harming a field rat or owl or sequoia or amoeba.

[Richard-SIA]

"for the imported gas over the next 20 years"

Get a clue, drill ANWAR while making a REAL effort to develop those "alternative energy sources".

I also recall reading (Here?) recently that we burn off enough LNG in Alaska to cover our needs, if we just had a practical way to get it to the continental U.S.

[alaskanfan]

3rd gas line proposal turned in
By DAN RICE, Staff Writer
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

The Alaska Gasline Port Authority submitted an application to the state Friday to build a pipeline to transport North Slope natural gas to markets in the Lower 48, joining two consortiums of major companies also proposing to build a gas line.

Port authority director Dave Dengel announced the application at a forum in Anchorage, according to Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Jim Whitaker, a member of the authority's board of directors.

The application proposes a "Y-line" route, with a gas line traveling from the North Slope to Valdez, and a line splitting near Delta Junction and running through Canada before entering the United States in the Midwest. Another line would extend to Anchorage and Southcentral Alaska.

Approved by voters in 1999, the port authority is a joint effort of the city of Valdez, the Fairbanks North Star Borough and the North Slope Borough to develop a municipal-owned gas line.

Whitaker said the port authority plans to provide a contract to MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. to construct and manage the gas line.

"We're not going to run it. We don't know anything about running pipelines," said Whitaker, sketching a map of the proposed gas line route on a whiteboard in his office. "We're going to hire the best in the world to run the gas line and we think MidAmerican is the best."

MidAmerican submitted its own application to the state in January, as did a consortium of the major oil producers ConocoPhillips, BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corp.

The state has already started negotiating with the first two applicants.

However, Whitaker said the port authority's proposal represents a better deal for the state and everyone involved. The biggest advantage, he said, is that the Internal Revenue Service has ruled the port authority would not have to pay federal taxes on a gas line.

By conservative estimates, he said, the tax exemption could save $500 million to $1 billion a year. However, Whitaker is even more optimistic.

"The tax-exempt status we have gives us an estimated benefit of $20 billion to $40 billion over the life of a 20-year project," he said.

Whitaker said the port authority's proposal includes a "revenue-sharing" provision that would spread income from the project to every community in Alaska, including those not located on the gas line route.

According to Whitaker's numbers, that provision could mean a $40 million annual income stream for the Fairbanks North Star Borough and $50,000 a year for the state's smallest communities.

He said another advantage is the port authority's plan to have connecting pipelines extending to Valdez and Southcentral Alaska.

The two applications from the major companies do not include the extensions.

Whitaker said the port authority could build the pipeline to Valdez and Southcentral before launching into the much more challenging task of extending a pipeline through Canada and into the Midwest.

"These two portions stand alone and we're certainly willing to wait for the completion of the much larger hurdles of a longer project," Whitaker said.

Gov. Frank Murkowski's spokesperson, John Manly, said he was not aware of the port authority's application Friday but that the administration and various state departments would likely give the proposal the same type of review the previous two applications received.

"We want to build a gas line, so we welcome the application of anyone that's qualified," Manly said.

BP spokesperson Dave McDowell said he could not comment on the specifics of the port authority's proposal but that the consortium his company is a part of remains committed to the application it submitted last month.

"We're focused on the project that we think has the most potential for developing North Slope gas," McDowell said.

Port authority attorney Bill Walker met with Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham Friday to discuss the authority's proposal, Whitaker said.

"Certainly the major producers will be critical of our proposal," Whitaker said. "They will attempt to undermine our credibility. That is their job to do so."

[alaskanfan]

There is a philosophy out there that we should drain America's resources first. (Google on "Drain America First".) This worldview is quite misguided.

You're right, why would we ever want to produce any of our natural resources. That would create jobs. Silly me, I wonder if McDonalds is still hiring?

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

"After 20 years, we believe there will be new ways to generate electricity."

Uh, Mr. Abraham...you'd better make damn sure that there will be new ways to generate electricity before you sell out the future of this country to foreign energy interests.

You are, after all, the Energy Secretary, aren't you? You do know what that means, right?

[alaskanfan]

BTT

[SolidSupplySide]

LNG is a bulk commodity transported all around the world. We currently ship Alaskan LNG to Japan. Japan also imports LNG from the Persian Gulf. Europe imports LNG by sea. All done on LNG tankers.

You need to familiarize yourself with the facts. While it is true that LNG is transported around the world, the volume is insignificant. We simply don't have the infrastructure to ship and receive LNG on a large scale.

Look at this chart. Natural gas is significantly more expensive (30%) from Canada than the LNG exporters. Furthermore, the volume of gas imported from Canada (95%) dwarfs the volume received from the LNG exporters (5%) even though imports of LNG have tripled in recent years. These events occur because natural gas is still a contintental commodity.

We need to develop the infrastructure to ship and receive this cheap LNG. It is not there.

Regarding another poster's complaint about jobs, protectionism does not work. For national security purposes, we should leave the gas in the ground until it becomes cost effective to extract it. That way, in the case of a national emergency, we still have our reserves.