New offshore LNG plan for Long Beach presented to local officials

New offshore LNG plan for Long Beach presented to local officials Long Beach City Council members on Tuesday listened to a new proposal to build a liquefied natural gas terminal off the city's coast.
   Texas-based Esperanza Energy's pitch calls for the construction of two floating terminals about 15 miles off the coast of Long Beach. The energy firm's site would allow LNG vessels to unload their liquid cargo offshore, warm it back into a gas, and pipe the gas ashore through pipelines. An onshore facility would pump heated water to the terminals for the conversion.
   The company warned that despite more than two years of work on the proposal, more work must be done before the firm turns to seeking required government approvals.
   The council did not officially endorse the proposal, but indicated that they were amenable to the approach if the city benefited financially and the plan presented no environmental impact.
   In January, a four-year effort by Mitsubishi-subsidiary Sound Energy Solutions to build an LNG facility at the Port of Long Beach was dealt a severe setback when the Long Beach Harbor Commission rejected the project. SES is now suing to force local officials to allow the project to move forward.