FERC Sets Timeline for Final Approval of Oregon LNG Facility
U.S. energy regulators have given Oregon LNG a schedule for when the company can expect final approval of a new terminal and related pipeline projects.
In an April 20 company statement, Oregon LNG, a subsidiary of holding company Leucadia National Corp., said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued its Notice of Schedule for Environmental Review of Oregon LNG’s Warrenton, Oregon, bidirectional liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal. The notice also covers the Oregon Pipeline connector project and an upgrade of a portion of the Williams Co. pipeline in Washington.
The notice set Feb. 12, 2016, as the date of issuance of the Final Environmental Impact Statement, and May 12, 2016, as the 90-day Federal Authorization Decision Deadline. These dates represent the final steps in the FERC approval process.
Oregon LNG’s terminal in Oregon would be a $6.3 billion construction project that would provide 3,000 jobs during construction and 150 permanent jobs when operational. Oregon LNG has agreed to use unionized labor for construction, while preserving a certain percentage of contracts for local and minority-owned businesses. Once in service, the facility will pay about $60 million annually in state property taxes, making it the largest property taxpayer in Oregon.
The terminal site is adjacent to the federally maintained Columbia River shipping channel, on an existing manmade peninsula that has long been reserved for use by heavy, marine-dependent industries. The project will require the shortest connecting pipeline of any LNG project on the West Coast and will enjoy transportation costs to markets in North Asia that are only about one-third of the transportation cost from projects located on the Gulf of Mexico. With electric power supplied mostly from hydroelectric and wind resources, it will also have one of the lowest carbon footprints of any proposed LNG project in North America. Oregon LNG officials say the company is fully committed to meeting all applicable safety and environmental standards.
Tags: FERC, LNG, Oregon LNG
