Cook Inlet LNG Advances Floating Storage and Regasification
Photo Credit: Paul | Adobe Stock
In the liquified natural gas industry, “regasification” is the process involved when the resource arrives at a destination. To cover unmet gas demand and storage needs in Southcentral, an import project that would tie a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to Cook Inlet infrastructure is advancing.
Cook Inlet LNG, a subsidiary of Gardes Holdings, is partnering with Glacier Oil & Gas, operator of the onshore West MacArthur River Unit and the offshore Osprey platform in the Redoubt Unit, to develop the FSRU project as a “bridge” while longer-term Southcentral energy solutions are realized.
Existing Infrastructure for Near-Term Energy
As envisioned, the FSRU will be moored alongside the Osprey platform on the west side of Cook Inlet, structured to supply 22 billion cubic feet of gas per year. (By comparison, a recent cold snap led to 1 billion cubic feet being drawn from storage reservoirs.) Mooring anchors placed on the seafloor would be the only new infrastructure required.
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“With proven, existing infrastructure, facilities, and pipelines in the southernmost area of the Cook Inlet, we are excited to embark on the next phase of delivering energy solutions for Alaskans, by Alaskans,” says Glacier Oil & Gas CEO Stephen Ratcliff. “Our ability to utilize our infrastructure allows a timely solution for meeting a gas supply demand in real time while upholding our standard for health and safety of our employees and the environment we operate in.”
The FSRU would be resupplied by LNG tankers approximately once every thirty to forty-five days in winter, with longer durations between resupplies in summer.
“It’s no secret that Southcentral Alaska faces a critical energy gap in just a few short years, that many players in our industry are working hard to overcome,” says Rob Bryngelson, project lead for Cook Inlet LNG.
Bryngelson is credited with bringing more than a dozen FSRU projects to market worldwide. “With our FSRU project, Cook Inlet LNG aims to meet an immediate gas supply need, not impede longer-term gas supply projects currently being discussed in the public sphere,” he says. “Now that we have reached key internal milestones, we can join those critical energy supply discussions with our FSRU project.”
Cook Inlet LNG has initiated the process of obtaining regulatory approvals from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the US Coast Guard and other regulatory agencies. First available gas from the FSRU project is expected in mid-2029.
“This project maximizes the re-use of oil and gas infrastructure that has operated safely in Cook Inlet for decades,” says Robert Gardes, president of Gardes Holdings. “FSRUs have proven effective as a simple, safe solution to fill energy gaps across the world. We are proud that this project will do the same for Alaskans.”
The project is privately funded, and once the project is in operation, gas supply costs to utilities and ratepayers would be approved by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, the same as other gas supply contracts.
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