By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Jan. 5 -- El Paso Corp.'s affiliate, El Paso Energy Bridge Gulf of Mexico LLC, signed agreements effective Dec. 17 transferring the assets and technology of its Energy Bridge deepwater natural gas port project to Excelerate Energy LP, the operating unit of Excelerate Energy LLC, The Woodlands, Tex.
Under the funding and tolling agreements, El Paso will provide construction, maintenance, and operational support for the first Energy Bridge deepwater natural gas port, to be installed 116 miles off Louisiana (OGJ Online, May 8, 2002).
The agreements will enable Excelerate to pursue deployment of additional offshore LNG terminals worldwide, but it said its primary focus would be on North American coastal locations.
Excelerate also inked other agreements pertinent to the port and vessel operations, including the 20-year charter of two Energy Bridge LNG vessels that El Paso had ordered from Antwerp-based ship owner Exmar NV. The vessels are under construction at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering shipyard in South Korea. GKFF Ltd., Gibraltar, will purchase one of the carriers and lease it to Excelerate; Exmar will lease the other carrier to Excelerate and provide operational and technical services for both vessels.
The vessels, which will contain regasification facilities, will deliver LNG to the proposed moored offshore port, regasify it, and move the gas through 8 miles of proposed high-pressure pipelines to existing subsea gas pipelines to shore (OGJ Online, Dec. 26, 2002).
The agreements between El Paso and Excelerate allow Advanced Production & Loading AS of Norway to proceed with the manufacture and installation of the submerged buoy system, which will be an integral component of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Bridge LNG receiving terminal.
An application before the US Department of Transportation for a license to build and operate the port is expected to be issued in the first quarter, Excelerate said.
The proposed deepwater port will be capable of delivering more than 500 MMcfd base-load gas volumes. When completed late this year, it will be the first offshore LNG regasification terminal in the world. LNG deliveries are scheduled to begin late this year or in early 2005.