LNG - Issues - Public Concerns
There is growing controversy regarding the safety and security of existing and proposed LNG ships and terminals. Natural gas from abroad is liquefied and loaded onto large, specially-designed ocean going vessels, then transported and delivered to LNG terminals. In the US, the LNG is gasified and transported to markets. As the number of proposals to site LNG terminals in the US has increased so has the level of controversy.
South Korea and China are the main LNG ship builders. There are over 150 ships worldwide, but not all serve US markets. Another 50 ships are under construction. These newer ships are larger, faster and have double the cargo capacity of the largest existing ships. Each cargo is valued between $10 million and $20 million. The general public are concerned that these large ships, their valuable cargoes and associated LNG terminals are potential terrorist targets.
Most the controversy deals with:
- Dangers of LNG vapor clouds;
- Gas quality specifications of LNG;
- Question over who has primary jurisdiction over LNG in California, the State or FERC?;
- Btu heat content issues;
- Mexican nationalization issues;
- If the Hackberry policy should apply to capacity expansions, or even initial capacity, of existing LNG terminals; and
- Many Not-In-My-Back-Yard (NIMBY) concerns.
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