LNG

Eagle LNG Partners, said it would partner with the Royal Caribbean Group to provide liquefied natural gas bunkering for the cruise company’s LNG-powered ships.

Feb 24 (LNGJ) - US company Eagle LNG marked a series of firsts when it fueled the 7,500-car carrier “SIEM Aristotle” from its Talleyrand LNG Bunker Station at the Jacksonville Port Authority (Jaxport) in Jacksonville, Florida. The “SIEM Aristotle” is the first deep-sea pure car, truck carrier (PCTC) equipped with dual-fuel engines designed to operate on LNG and marine gas oil.

   “It was the first time ‘SIEM Aristotle’ had been refueled from a landside bunkering facility and the first ship that Eagle LNG had refueled of that size from the bunkering station,” said Eagle. The “SIEM Aristotle” and sister ship “SIEM Confucius” are chartered from Norway’s SIEM Shipping to Volkswagen to transport automobiles from the northwest German port of Emden to the US East and Gulf Coasts and Mexico.

The US Department of Energy has removed the requirement for long-term LNG export authorization holders to seek separate short-term permits to export volumes, boosting the flexibility of US companies in the spot cargo market.

By consolidating this authority in a single authorization without any increase in total approved export volumes, the DoE said it was a move to streamline its regulatory process.

“This policy is a sensible and concrete way DoE can remove unnecessary regulatory burdens for LNG exporters,” said Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette.

“Those exports bring benefits to our economy, while also helping to reduce global emissions,” added Brouillette in reference to US shipments to Asia helping to enable the switch from coal to gas.

The DoE believes that this deregulatory measure would lead to administrative efficiency.

It would also remove a duplicative requirement for exports of LNG to have DoE authorization for the short-term market, where the authorization holder already has long-term export authority.

Concurrent with this policy statement, DOE added that it was amending several long-term LNG export orders to add short-term export authority to the long-term orders.

“We are increasingly seeing more sales of LNG on the spot market, and this action by DoE is allowing more flexibility for US LNG exporters,” explained Deputy Secretary of Energy Mark W. Menezes.

“With this policy, US LNG exporters can let the market - not our regulatory process - determine which LNG cargos will be exported under long-term or short-term agreements on the spot market,” stated Menezes.

Acting Under Secretary of Energy and Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steven Winberg said LNG export policies should support the market aims of US companies.

“We want to have a sensible regulatory system that takes current market realities into account, and this policy statement does just that,” added Winberg.

At the start of January 2021, the DoE also issued its fourth set of LNG export authorizations through to 2050.

This action followed several LNG export term extensions issued since October 2020 pursuant to its global export policies.

The latest term extensions were given to the Southern LNG export facility operating in Georgia, the Elba Island plant, as well as Sempra Energy’s Cameron facility in Louisiana.

The new permits have also been given to the Annova LNG project proposed in Texas and Eagle LNG’s two small-scale facilities in Florida, including the Maxville facility currently in operation.

These issuances extended each project’s long-term LNG export authorization to non-free trade agreement (non-FTA) countries through December 31, 2050. 

Term extensions now apply to permits now held by 18 US LNG export projects, as well as the Costa Azul project in Mexico. 

The US Department of Energy has extended the terms of five long-term liquefied natural gas export authorizations through 2050 for plants in Louisiana, Texas, Georgia and Florida.

The northeast Caribbean island of Barbuda, one of two making up the tiny nation of Antigua and Barbuda, has signed an agreement with Florida-based Eagle LNG Partners for long-term supplies.

Eagle LNG said its agreement was with Barbuda Ocean Club in Barbuda to help the island to slowly rebuild after the Category 5 Hurricane Irma struck in 2017, while protecting its fragile natural environment and preserving its distinctive culture.

The population of Barbuda of around 1,500 people live in and around the village of Codrington.

“By transitioning to US natural gas for power generation, Barbuda Ocean Club is committing to low-carbon technology while also reducing local air emissions on the island of Barbuda, and will save millions of dollars in fuel relative to existing petroleum-based power generation,” said Eagle LNG.

“Transitioning to flexible natural gas driven generation also enables Barbuda Ocean Club to work with Eagle LNG to introduce further low carbon solutions including renewable generation to enable sustainable growth of development in Barbuda,” the Florida company added.

Eagle LNG said it would provide significant on-island storage and regasification to ensure supplies for extended periods should weather inhibit deliveries in ISO containers.

Since early 2018, Eagle LNG has loaded hundreds of ISO and trailers loads from its Maxville liquefaction facility for Crowley Maritime, the US shipping line which also has LNG-powered vessels,  and other clients.

“The turn-key, US natural gas powered solution for Barbuda is ideal for many areas for both industrial clients and island utilities,” Eagle LNG added.

Eagle LNG's Maxville  plant near Jacksonville in Florida with a nameplate capacity of 200,000 gallons per day.

The plant is located west of the port of Jacksonville and features a 1-million gallon storage tank and an LNG truck-loading system. The facility is also designed to load LNG ISO containers for transport to the Caribbean island markets.

Eagle LNG explained that it was enabling a fully turn-key solution for Barbuda inclusive of US natural gas, storm-resilient equipment and investment in power generation.

“We are pleased to partner with Barbuda Ocean Club on this important project,” said Sean Lalani, President of Eagle LNG.

“This project demonstrates our commitment to provide low-cost energy which enables economic growth and recovery in Barbuda and similar places,” added Lalani.

“Eagle LNG is committed to a low-carbon future, spurring economic recovery for the region as the world works to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, and fostering closer ties between Florida and the US and our neighbors throughout the region,” he stated.

Eagle LNG said it was pleased to be a leading energy developer in the region and looked forward to providing low-cost, flexible energy solutions to numerous other clients.

“Partnering with Eagle LNG is the best solution for our members as well as Barbuda as a whole,” said Michael S. Meldman, Chairman and Chief Executive of US real estate firm Discovery Land Company, which offers family-oriented, adventure-style holidays on the island.

“We have made a major commitment to help the people of Barbuda preserve the health and integrity of the island’s natural environment,” explained Meldman.

“It’s a huge part of who we are and what Barbuda Ocean Club represents. Eagle LNG will allow us to provide dependable, sustainable electricity throughout our community while minimizing the impact upon the native environment,” he added.

“It’s a safe, clean source of power that will serve our community for many years,” stated Meldman.

The Canadian business of Clough Enercore is rebranding to fully integrate into Clough’s North American unit whose project contracts have spanned work for ventures such as LNG Canada, Freeport LNG in Texas and Eagle LNG in Florida.

US regulators have issued a positive final environmental impact statement for the planned small-scale liquefaction plant planned for Jacksonville in Florida by Eagle LNG Partners to supply customers in the US and the Caribbean.

Jan 10 (LNGJ) - Eagle LNG, a subsidiary of Ferus Natural Gas Fuels, said it supplied fuel to the Crowley Maritime Corp. vessel “Taino”, the second of two of the world’s first combination container and roll-on-roll-off ships powered by LNG. The “Taino” was refueled at the Eagle LNG shoreside bunkering depot at Jacksonville port in Florida before starting service on the Puerto Rico trade route. The “Taino”, built at the VT Halter Marine shipyard at Pascagoula in Mississippi, is joining its sister ship “El Coqui” to provide fast and environmentally-friendly shipping between Florida and the US territory in the Caribbean at a cost of $550 million, including port upgrades.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has prepared a draft environmental impact statement for the mid-scale Jacksonville project in Florida proposed by Eagle LNG Partners to supply regional power and fuel markets.

Crowley Maritime Corp. has taken delivery of the first of two container and roll-on-roll-off ships powered by liquefied natural gas from US shipbuilder VT Halter Marine of Pascagoula in Mississippi.