LNG import terminals will not solve America's gas shortage.
US LNG demand is expected to grow 8-fold by 2010, and proposed developments represent only a part of the solution.
"Even if all 40 proposed terminals were built, they would not solve the gas issue," according to Stephen Shaw, oil and gas market sector leader for Det Norske Veritas' Houston office.
Though offshore LNG terminals are only part of the answer to the energy question, they are a significant part of the solution. And there is a critical need for standards to govern construction and operation. DNV plans to lead the way toward establishing the necessary guidelines.
According to Shaw, there is a lack of confidence in the published studies regarding the innate hazards of LNG facilities. DNV has identified the need for definitive, independent, and informed study to identify credible scenarios and calculate hazard zones.
"What we at DNV are doing is trying to fill that vacuum," Shaw said.
Most critically, the study should have a sound scientific basis, Shaw said.
Two government studies are underway, but there is no guarantee that the complete results of these studies will be released. DNV, on the other hand, intends to make public its report late in June at the Center for Chemical Process Safety's annual international meeting in Orlando, Florida.
DNV will make its report available to inform the coming debates on LNG.
"We want to be recognized as having a particular position," Shaw said.
3/12/04
