The business unit of GE is acquiring Houston-based investor Crest Group’s 30% interest in the contracted $1.1bn Gulf LNG Energy terminal, expected to be completed late next year.
The terminal, adjacent to the Bayou Casotte Ship Channel in the Port of Pascagoula on the Gulf Coast, will receive, store and regasify – turn back into gas – imported liquefied natural gas. Under construction are two 160,000 cubic meter natural gas storage tanks with a combined capacity of 6.6 billion cubic feet, 10 vaporizers and connections to the Gulfstream, Destin, Florida Gas Transmission and Transco pipelines.
The project has secured 20-year service agreements with major oil and gas companies to supply LNG for all of the terminal’s capacity. In addition to GE Energy Financial Services, the terminal’s owners are a subsidiary of El Paso, which is managing construction and will operate the facility, and Sonangol, Angola’s state-owned national oil company.
Dan Castagnola, managing director of GE Energy Financial Services in Houston, said: “Our investment in an asset that will form part of the nation’s energy backbone reflects our strategy of supporting growing businesses, helping to meet energy demand and drawing on the pillar of GE’s strength and expertise in energy.
“Representing our expansion into LNG, this transaction complements our investment in US natural gas pipelines – 30,000 miles of pipelines in North America – that help ensure a steady supply of clean, efficient energy.”
The Port of Pascagoula will benefit from lease payments from the terminal, along with port fees and payments from LNG vessels. In addition, the project’s owners expect that once operational, the terminal will offer up to 60 full-time jobs.
