The amendment of the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (DWPA) in 2002 cleared the way for the permitting of offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving facilities in the federal waters of the United States, and triggered a wave of project development in the Gulf of Mexico and around the country. Excelerate Energy's Gulf Gateway Energy Bridge?deepwater port was one of the first facilities to seek approval under this regulatory regime, and has since become the firstoffshore LNG facility to be constructed and placed into service, not only in the United States, but also in the world.
Fig 1. Vessel on Station at Gulf Gateway Deepwater Port(available in fullpaper)
The newness of the offshore environment for LNG delivery, along with the unique technology used in the Energy Bridge?system, increased the complexity of the development process for Gulf Gateway. Although the amended DWPA provides a solid framework for the advancement of offshore LNG projects through permitting and implementation, being the first project to pass through the entire process - from permitting through construction - required extensive coordination, ingenuity, and effort by the regulators and project proponent alike.
As additional projects have entered into the DWPA licensing process, the regulatory environment has continued to evolve, resulting in new challenges that have shaped the way that these projects are developed. The increase in projects has shifted regulatory focus towards cumulative impacts assessments as well as detailed alternatives analyses for both technology choices and project location. In addition, public and agency interest in the deepwater port projects has grown, resulting in a consistently increasing filing thresholds (in terms of scope and depth of information) coupled with dynamic permit requirements. As a result, many proposed projects have been delayed or shelved during the licensing rocess, and none have yet been constructed since Gulf Gateway.
The Deepwater Port Act was enacted in 1974 to establish a licensing system for the construction, ownership, and operation of deepwater ports in the U.S. territorial sea. Initially dealing exclusively with oil rather than natural gas, only one project was ever constructed under this act prior to Gulf Gateway. This facility, known as the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port or LOOP, was granted a deepwater port license in 1977 and built about 10 miles south of Grand Isle, Louisiana to offload crude oil from carriers to large for U.S. inland ports.
Fig 2. Louisiana Offshore Oil Port(available in fullpaper)
With the resurgence of interest in LNG importation into the U.S in the days leading up to and following September 11, 2001 a variety of proposals were developed for both onshore and offshore importation facilities - with offshore having the perceptual advantage of reducing risk to onshore communities.
