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New Fortress Finds Way Around Jones Act – Ship US LNG via Mexico

Altamira Fast LNG 1 (click for larger version)

You have to admire Wes Edens, CEO of New Fortress Energy. He’s figured out a way to get around the idiotic prohibition on shipping U.S. LNG from one U.S. port to another. The Jones Act, passed more than 100 years ago, aimed to boost American shipbuilding. The Act requires any cargo ship moving from one U.S. port to another to be built in the U.S., owned by a U.S. company, and crewed with U.S. citizens. There are precisely zero large LNG cargo carriers that meet those criteria. Big LNG carriers are built in other counties where it’s cheaper to build them. Edens figured out how to get around the Jones Act using a floating LNG (FLNG) platform just off the coast of Mexico.
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New Jersey Newspaper Endorses NFE’s Gibbstown LNG Export Plan

New Fortress Energy (NFE) plans to build an LNG liquefaction facility in Bradford County, PA–in the northeastern part of the state (see Big News! Marcellus LNG Export Plant Coming to Landlocked NEPA). NFE’s plan is to transport LNG made at the plant by truck and rail to a loading dock on the Delaware River at a former Dupont dynamite factory site in Gibbstown, NJ. Radicalized antis jumped all over NFE’s plan, saying “bomb trains” would be rolling through population centers like Scranton and Philadelphia (see Here We Go Again – Sending LNG Safely by Rail Called “Bomb Train”). The Bidenistas recently announced they were canceling LNG-by-rail permits issued under President Trump to NFE, and putting any more permits on hold (likely forever) to further “study” the issue (see LNG-by-Rail Officially on Hold with PHMSA, Agency Will “Study” It).
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LNG-by-Rail Officially on Hold with PHMSA, Agency Will “Study” It

When a government agency says it will “study” something, that means you can kiss it goodbye. It’s lights out. Our country has a serious problem: insufficient pipelines to get natural gas where it needs to go. In June 2020, during the Trump administration, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), in coordination with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), published final rules to allow LNG to be safely transported by special rail cars (see PHMSA and Fed Railroad Admin Publish Final LNG by Rail Regs). Irrational fossil fuel haters got ahold of the cognitively challenged Joe Biden, and Biden put a “freeze” on LNG-by-rail during his first two days in office (see What Biden’s First Two Days on the Job Mean for the O&G Industry). Now, the Bidenistas at the DOT are moving to permanently (under Biden anyway) block LNG-by-rail by saying they “need to do more safety investigative work.” Kiss it goodbye.
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New Fortress Confirms Intent to Build Wyalusing LNG Export Plant

In March, MDN brought you the news that New Fortress Energy (NFE) confirmed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it plans to apply for updated permits to build an LNG export plant in landlocked northeastern Pennsylvania (see New Fortress to Reapply for Permits to Build Wyalusing LNG Plant). The project has been dead as a doornail for over three years. In May filings, NFE once again signaled to the SEC that it intends to build an LNG plant in Wyalusing, PA.
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Dela. Riverkeeper Releases Sham “Report” Against LNG Export Plan

THE Delaware Riverkeeper appears to be obsessed with New Fortress Energy’s plan to liquefy natural gas in Bradford County, PA, and ship it via rail and truck to a former DuPont dynamite factory site in New Jersey along the Delaware River for export. Riverkeeper released a “report” (propaganda) bashing the LNG export plan. Riverkeeper paid a consulting firm that hires itself out to Big Green groups to produce the report.
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Bad Guys Win: Biden DOT Won’t Renew PA-to-NJ LNG Rail Permit

On December 5, 2019, the PHMSA (Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration) granted a special permit to Energy Transport Solutions, LLC (i.e. New Fortress Energy) to transport LNG in DOT-113C120 rail tanker cars between Wyalusing, PA and Gibbstown, NJ (see U.S. Gov’t Grants New Fortress Permit to Ship NEPA LNG by Rail!). At the time, New Fortress was working on plans to build an LNG liquefaction plant in Wyalusing, PA, aimed at liquefying locally-produced Chesapeake Energy Marcellus gas, shipping it (via rail and truck) to a port facility on the banks of the Delaware River and exporting it from there.
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Here We Go Again – Sending LNG Safely by Rail Called “Bomb Train”

LNG rail car

“You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that is it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” – Rahm Emanuel, when he was Barack Obama’s White House Chief of Staff. By any standard you use, the rail disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, was (is!) a serious issue. To compare that disaster with a hypothetical train derailment of LNG (liquefied natural gas), referring to specially-outfitted rail cars that would carry the LNG (not yet allowed) as “bomb trains,” is the height of arrogance and ignorance. Yet a plan to use LNG rail cars to deliver Marcellus LNG from Bradford County, PA, to a port on the shoreline of the Delaware River in Gibbstown, N.J. is being compared to East Palestine in a laughable op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
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New Fortress to Reapply for Permits to Build Wyalusing LNG Plant

NOW we understand why antis have restarted their attacks on the various components of New Fortress Energy’s Wyalusing LNG liquefaction plant–a project that has been dead as a doornail for three years. Yesterday we told you we were somewhat mystified by the actions of antis in the Delaware River Basin in opposing LNG-by-rail transportation and a permit for the seemingly dead project in land-locked Bradford County, PA (see Antis Still Attacking Dead NFE PA-to-NJ LNG Export Plan). And then the penny dropped. Actually, two pennies dropped. One penny (moment of understanding) is that NFE has, in its latest filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), confirmed it plans to apply for updated permits for the Wyalusing LNG plant. Cool! The project lives! The second penny is that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has again failed to suspend an LNG-by-rail rule from the Trump administration era that was supposed to be axed no later than yesterday.
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Antis Still Attacking Dead NFE PA-to-NJ LNG Export Plan

In something of a mystery for us, the radical left continues to try and pound more nails in the coffin of the already-dead New Fortress Energy (NFE) Wyalusing LNG export plant. In March 2022 (one year ago), NFE withdrew a request to build an onshore LNG liquefaction plant in Wyalusing, PA, a plant that would have transported its LNG to NFE’s Repauno Port and Rail Terminal on the shoreline of the Delaware River in Gibbstown, N.J. (see NFE Caves to Radicals, “Pulls the Plug” on Wyalusing, PA LNG Plant).
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DRBC Gives LNG Export Dock in Dela. River Extra 3 Yrs to Build

Quick…grab the paddles! The patient is still alive and needs to be shocked and revived! The patient we’re talking about is New Fortress Energy’s (NFE) Repauno Port and Rail Terminal on the shoreline of the Delaware River in Gibbstown, N.J. We thought the project to build a new dock for cargo ships to load and export LNG from the facility was pretty much dead after NFE withdrew a request to build an onshore LNG liquefaction plant in Wyalusing, PA, earlier this year–a plant that would have fed the export operation on the Delaware River (see NFE Caves to Radicals, “Pulls the Plug” on Wyalusing, PA LNG Plant). However, in a surprise move, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) voted last Thursday to extend a permit to build the special LNG export dock by an extra three years. THE Delaware Riverkeeper is NOT happy…
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NFE CEO Wes Edens has Big Plans to Export LNG from U.S.

Two weeks ago MDN brought you the news that New Fortress Energy (NFE) has withdrawn a request to extend a previously-issued permit required to build an onshore LNG liquefaction plant in Wyalusing, PA (see NFE Caves to Radicals, “Pulls the Plug” on Wyalusing, PA LNG Plant). Last week we brought you the news that NFE will instead build an offshore LNG facility in the Gulf of Mexico, and it will be built and in operation next year (see New Fortress Building LNG Offshore La. Instead of Onshore Pa.). NFE isn’t done, content with just one offshore facility. CEO Wes Edens has a plan to supply as much as 11 million metric tons of LNG annually–which amounts to 16% of current U.S. exports.
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Connecting the Dots Between Aborted Wyalusing LNG, Biden, & Putin

We spotted two different articles published over the past couple of days about the recently nixed Marcellus LNG export plant that was planned for Wyalusing (Bradford County), PA (see NFE Caves to Radicals, “Pulls the Plug” on Wyalusing, PA LNG Plant). There’s plenty of blame to go around. We quoted a highly placed source who said the DEP is the party that “caved” to the radical left by not sticking up for a permit it had previously reviewed and issued (see New Fortress Building LNG Offshore La. Instead of Onshore Pa.). The articles we spotted analyzing the situation tie the aborted Wyalusing project to both Biden and Vladimir Putin. We think they’re both right.
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New Fortress Building LNG Offshore La. Instead of Onshore Pa.

Two weeks ago MDN brought you the news that New Fortress Energy has withdrawn a request to extend a previously-issued permit required to build an onshore LNG liquefaction plant in Wyalusing (Bradford County), PA (see NFE Caves to Radicals, “Pulls the Plug” on Wyalusing, PA LNG Plant). Now comes word that NFE will instead build an offshore LNG facility in the Gulf of Mexico, and it will be built and in operation next year! What really happened in PA, and why is NFE investing in the Gulf instead?
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NFE Caves to Radicals, “Pulls the Plug” on Wyalusing, PA LNG Plant

It’s always a sad day when radical Big Green groups win a victory over American energy. Such has happened with the New Fortress Energy (NFE) LNG plant proposed for Wyalusing in Bradford County, PA. Three Big Green groups challenged an extension for a permit previously issued for a new liquefaction facility proposed by NFE located in northeastern PA. NFE has caved and agreed that should it proceed with the project, it will need to file all over again and get a new permit–which doesn’t look likely.
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Bradford County Official Blames Biden for Paused Wyalusing LNG Plant

We’ve written about Doug McLinko, Commissioner for Bradford County, PA, a number of times. McLinko has been a strong supporter of the shale industry for years. In a recent interview with a local newspaper, McLinko and fellow Commissioner Daryl Miller took national leaders to task, including President Biden, for their pursuit of foreign energy sources over domestic sources. In particular, McLinko believes rail and pipelines could be an effective countermeasure to move our energy around, guarding against wild price gyrations.
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Trenton, NJ Fooled into Voting Against LNG Dock on Dela. River

The odious leftists from the so-called Food & Water Watch (Big Green group, funded with foreign money) continue to pressure, cajole, woo, and hoodwink local municipalities in New Jersey to oppose building a new dock on the Delaware River–a dock that would allow LNG cargo carriers to come alongside and load up with yummy, safe, clean-burning LNG. The latest victim of FWW’s lies is Trenton, New Jersey.
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