Another LNG Plan Slated for Local Waters

A second Australian energy company has filed an application to build a floating offshore liquefied natural gas offloading station within sight of Malibu. But the proposal from Woodside Petroleum avoids some of the aesthetic and pollution impacts that have many Malibu residents up in arms about the BHP Billiton LNG proposal called Cabrillo Port.

But despite what some coastal advocates call a better LNG plan, the proposed state law that would pit LNG terminals against each other in a comparative licensing process is suddenly in trouble in Sacramento.

Woodside Natural Gas filed an application Friday to use federal and state tidelands for its OceanWay LNG terminal, which would include a pair of undersea buoys 22 miles south of Point Dume. Unlike BHPB’s controversial Cabrillo Port planned for 13.8 miles off Leo Carrillo Beach, there would be no large, permanent floating storage and regasification ship stationed at OceanWay.

Rather, Woodside would convert LNG into natural gas on board its fleet of transport ships. In addition to eliminating the aircraft carrier-sized permanent factory ship planned by BHP Billiton, OceanWay would avoid emitting large amounts of smog-producing chemical waste into the skies by using an ambient air heat transfer system.

“We listened to the concerns all along the California coast, and there seemed to be major concerns about the visual impact of a permanent unloading facility, and about air emissions,” said Woodside spokesman Michael Hinrichs.

An animation released by Woodside shows the submerged buoys sitting at rest below 100 feet of ocean water, with small snagging buoys floating on the surface. After picking up the floating buoy, the transport ship would hoist the submerged buoy up into the ship’s bottom, and natural gas hoses would be plugged into the ship.

At that point, the transport ship would use outside air to heat the liquefied gas up from -260 degrees Fahrenheit to room temperature.

“We anticipate using the surrounding air to warm up the LNG almost all the time, except when during extremely cold weather,” Hinrichs said. “In those rare cases, we would need to heat the incoming air using natural gas.” Hinrichs said that would happen a maximum of 10 percent of the time, “but in all probability much less than that. We plan on using plain air nearly all the time.

”Twin natural gas pipelines would bring the fuel ashore near Los Angeles International Airport.

BHP Billiton’s project, proposed for 13.8 miles off Malibu, has been dogged by objections to the 270 tons or more of smog-causing sulfur and nitrogen oxides, and petrochemical residue, that would be sent up Cabrillo Port’s smokestacks each year as a result of its oven-based regasification technology.

A BHPB spokesman in Texas said he has not seen Woodside’s application and cannot comment on its relative pollution potential compared to Cabrillo Port. But Patrick Cassidy said no one should call Woodside’s project nonpolluting, “as the process likely requires pumps, which require electricity, which require natural gas, which creates emissions.

”Cabrillo Port will also generate electricity for its pumps, if approved.

BHPB has also refused to comment on an application by a third company to regasify LNG at an old offshore oil platform in Ventura County, a request that also would use the cleaner ambient air system.

But Malibu City Councilman Andy Stern said he does not trust Cabrillo Port’s owners, because they had originally said their boiler regasification system was the cleanest-possible technology in the world.

“I think Billiton should call those other companies, get the facts, and then learn how to process natural gas cleanly,” Stern said.

Stern voiced frustration that the various LNG projects do not require a competitive judgment, where the cleanest system would win permits to use state and federal tidelands. A proposed state law to require a needs assessment and competitive licensing faces a tough battle in the legislature, and environmentalists say it may be killed.

“On top of that, we don’t know if the governor will sign this bill, even though he is placing himself as an environmental defender this election,” said Susan Jordan of the California Coastal Protection Network. “He has already shown himself to be sympathetic to LNG in general and BHP Billiton in particular.

”Under the federal Deepwater Ports Act, the Coast Guard and Commerce Department have 21 days to examine the Woodside application, and send it back to answer any questions. Once the company’s application has been modified, federal and state agencies have about a year to conduct environmental and safety research before making a decision on the permit.

In OceanWay’s case, the local agency that will have to sign off on the Woodside project will be the City of Los Angeles, as the pipeline will come ashore within its city limits.

BY HANS LAETZ