SeaOne Caribbean (SOC), a unit of SeaOne Holdings, said it is commencing the development of a project that will offer customers located in the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) countries of the Caribbean and Central America access to U.S. sourced natural gas and natural gas liquids.
SOC plans to deliver their natural gas and natural gas liquids together in one cargo for a fixed service fee, the company said in a statement.
Under SOC’s business arrangements, customers should be able to separately acquire natural gas and natural gas liquids and then arrange with SOC for their delivery at an all-in delivered cost of approximately one-half of their current costs.
High electric and energy costs have hampered growth and economic development in the Caribbean and Central America leading President Obama to call for a U.S. Caribbean Energy Security Initiative to find ways to provide cleaner, lower cost, and more reliable fuels.
SOC will use its technology to solvate, store, and transport its customers’ natural gas and natural gas liquids at modest temperatures and pressures, it said.
The combined solvated product is called Compressed Gas Liquid, or CGLTM, and utilizes standard gas plant technology in making the CGL.
After completion by SOC of a pre-FEED, the project is moving forward with the commencement this month of the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) phase of the project.
The project has received regulatory certainty in that the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Fossil Energy (DOE/FE) has issued an order to a wholly-owned affiliate of SOC allowing SOC to export up to 1.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas contained in CGL to the FTA, countries.
SOC plans to construct a CGL Production & Export Facility at the existing Port of Gulfport, Mississippi.
Once solvated, the CGL is to be transferred to an ocean-going marine vessel (an articulated tug and barge, or AT/B), which is designed to transport and deliver the customers’ product to CGL Receiving Terminals that are in FTA countries located in the Caribbean and Central America.
SOC also plans to submit an application with the DOE/FE requesting permission to export natural gas contained in CGL to non-FTA countries in the Caribbean and Central America.
With the commencement of the FEED this month and its expected completion during the first quarter of 2016, SOC believes that Phase 1 of the project will be able to enter into commercial operations in late 2018.
Image: SeaOne