MARAD Invites Comments on Delfin LNGs DEIS

Delfin LNG The Maritime Administration (MARAD), together with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), has issued a call for comments on the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the Delfin LNG deepwater port project. MARADs notice launched a 45-day comment period and requests for public participation in the environmental impact review process. On May 8, 2015, MARAD and USCG received a license application from Delfin LNG for all Federal authorizations required for a license to own, construct and operate the deepwater port for the export of U.S. natural gas. To be located some 40 nautical miles off the coast of Cameron Parish, Louisiana, the proposed Delfin LNG deepwater port would consists of onshore gas compression facilities and a deepwater port that uses existing pipeline infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico. The pipelines would transport natural gas offshore to four semi-permanently moored floating liquefaction vessels (FLNGs), which would have a total storage capacity of 210,000 cubic meters (m3) each. The LNG would be stored onboard the FLNGs and transferred to LNG tankers. An offloading mooring system, which would be provided on each FLNG, would be capable of accommodating standard LNG tankers with nominal cargo capacities up to 170,000 m3. Some 31 LNG tankers are estimated to visit each of the four FLNGs for a total of up to 124 cargo transfer operations per year. The port would be capable of exporting 443.3 Bscf/y of natural gas or 9.2 MMtpa of LNG, according to MARADs notice.