|
Marie
Senior Member
114 Posts |
 Posted - 04/13/2008 : 09:18:54 AM
|
Excelerate set to pump LNG from buoy off Gloucester
Jay Fitzgerald By Jay Fitzgerald
Friday, April 11, 2008 -
Excelerate Energy will be pumping natural gas from its new LNG buoy system off the coast of Gloucester by the end of the month, a spokesman said.
The energy giant, which has spent about $350 million on the offshore project, has already used an empty LNG tanker to test whether its sophisticated buoys - which stretch to the ocean bottom where gas pipelines are located - works, spokesman Doug Pizzi said. Later this month, Excelerate’s first full tanker is expected to tie up to the buoys and unload actual natural gas into the pipelines.
But the U.S. Coast Guard, which is in charge of security, has prevented the company from saying what specific day Excelerate will unload its initial huge energy cargo.
“We’re not going to be able to say it’s happened until after it’s happened,” said Pizzi.
The Excelerate project is expected to provide the region - which increasingly depends on natural gas for heating and electric power - with a badly need natural gas source. Suez SA, which owns the Distrigas LNG facility in Everett, is also aiming to open a new offshore buoy system sometime next year.
The projects are considered safer than land-based LNG terminals, such as the one in Everett and one proposed for Fall River.
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino has been a harsh critic of LNG tankers going through Boston Harbor on their way to the Everett facility, citing the potential dangers if one of them is ever attacked by terrorists.
|
|
Boston Herald
