Regional LNG: Studies on possibility to import LNG to NZ commences

New Zealand companies Contact Energy Limited and Genesis Power Limited announced Wednesday that they had appointed Kellogg Brown & Root Pty Ltd (KBR) and Poten & Partners to lead studies into the logistical and market implications of importing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to New Zealand.

KBR has been appointed as the primary consultant to undertake an engineering feasibility study in collaboration with New Zealand-based engineering consultants Maunsell (formerly Meritec) and environmental consultants Boffa Miskell,

Poten & Partners is picked to advise on how imported LNG can be integrated with existing and future indigenous gas supply. ?Poten & Partners will look specifically at the optimum capacity of an LNG receiving terminal and associated storage to ensure a reliable and secure gas supply,? said the companies.

Scheduled for completion by mid-year, the study will seek to identify and cost alternative sites for an LNG receiving facility in New Zealand, with particular attention to environmental and consenting issues. In October last year, Contact and Genesis, New Zealand's two largest gas users, formed an alliance to explore options to ensure New Zealand's future generation needs are met in the most cost-effective way .

?This study is an important step in identifying New Zealand?s options in the event that no large domestic gas fields are discovered and that a gap between total energy demand and available supply occurs from around 2008-2010, as the Maui gasfield runs out, the companies said. (alex)