Regional LNG: ChevronTexaco plans more LNG sites in U.S

US energy giant ChevronTexaco is evaluating more U.S. sites to build liquefied natural gas receiving terminals, a company official was quoted by Reuters sa saying Thursday.

"We're looking at a number of difference options off the West Coast ... and a variety of options on the East Coast," Joe Naylor, ChevronTexaco's vice president for strategy, planning and business support told reporters on the sidelines of an LNG conference.

The No. 2 U.S. oil company has previously said it would seek to build LNG terminals off the coast of Louisiana and Mexico's Baja California peninsula.

Those two projects are still in the engineering stage with final decisions on whether to proceed with construction expected later this year, Naylor said.

More than three dozen LNG terminals have been proposed in the United States to draw supplies of the super-cooled LNG from production sites in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and South America, but experts expect only a handful of U.S. plants will be built.

Currently four LNG plants are operating on the U.S. East and Gulf coasts. Forecasts for shortfalls in U.S. natural gas supplies in the coming years have triggered a rush to develop new plants to bring in the fuel.

The Asia-Pacific region has the most developed trade in LNG, with Japan and South Korea the major consumers.

Most of those shipments are under long-term contracts and many of the deals will expire between 2008 and 2012, Naylor said.

With many of the new U.S. terminals due to come on line around 2007 and 2008, that could help draw supplies across the Pacific, he said.

"It could be a perfect marriage," he said.

The U.S. terminal owners will need to sign some long-term contracts to secure supplies, instead of relying on the short-term and spot market terms that are typical in the U.S. industry.

"The Asian market needs to become a little bit more North American, and North America needs to get a little bit more Asian," Naylor said.

Early signs of a spot LNG market in Asia are appearing, he said, although it remained modest and would not be a major factor in developing new U.S. facilities.

"We don't envision LNG projects being financed purely on spec, or for the spot market," he said.(*)