• 17 Oct 2016

In the United States, two new “small scale” LNG facilities have  been announced, on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. In Louisiana, Texas-based NuBlu Energy said it has started the construction of its natural gas liquefaction plant in Port Allen. The facility located along the Mississippi river is intended to support the region’s high-horsepower fueling applications such as rail, marine, long haul transportation, power generation, gas interruption, asphalt and other energy markets, the company said in its statement.

It is expected that the plant will become operational in the second quarter of 2017. At start-up, the production capacity will be at 30,000 gallons of liquefied natural gas per day, while at full build out the facility will be producing 90,000 gallons per day. The facility will have a 120,000 gallons storage capacity and a loading facility for both LNG transport trailers as well as ISO containers, NuBlu said.

In Florida, JAX LNG has executed the remaining engineering and procurement contracts required to begin construction of a new LNG liquefaction and storage facility in Jacksonville, Florida.

The LNG facility will be located at Dames Point near the Port of Jacksonville, JAX LNG said in its statement, adding that the plant is expected to enter operation in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Once completed, it will be outfitted with a 2 million-gallon storage tank with the capacity to produce in excess of 120,000 gallons of LNG per day.

In 2015, the JAX LNG joint venture was formed by Pivotal LNG, a unit of Southern Company Gas, and NorthStar Midstream, a midstream transportation company backed by funds that are managed by Oaktree Capital Management and Clean Marine Energy.

Currently, the joint venture is the long-term supplier of LNG to two dual fuel container ships, the Isla Bella and Perla del Caribe, operated by TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico. By 2017, Jacksonville-based Crowley Maritime Corp. will have two new, liquefied-natural-gas-powered, combination container-roll-on/roll-off ConRo ships plying waters between JAXPORT and San Juan. The ships, which are being built by VT Halter Marine Inc. of Pascagoula, Miss., will replace towed triple-deck barge units that have served the U.S.-Puerto Rico trade since the early 1970s.