Mexico's environmental body approves

Mexico's environmental body approves

Baja California LNG project

Mexico City (Platts)--17Sep2004


ChevronTexaco has been given a permit by Mexico's environment ministry,
Semarnat, for the construction of a 700,000 Mcf/day LNG regasification
terminal off Baja California, according to a notice posted Thursday on the
Semarnat website. The award of an environmental impact permit (MIA) marks an
important victory for the project which continues to face vociferous
opposition from politicians and environmentalists. No further details of the
MIA were immediately available Thursday, when Mexico was closed for
Independence Day. 

However, the Tijuana-based daily Frontera reported that Semarnat had ruled
that the 600 meters which will separate the terminal from the nearest of the
Coronado Islands was sufficient to ensure that no harm would be done to the
islands' eco-system. Semarnat also found that the proposed location was free
of risks from geological faults, the report said. The decision will likely
anger the Mexican chapter of Greenpeace, which has claimed that the project
would threaten the island as a refuge for wildlife.

Politicians have argued -- apparently in the mistaken belief that
ChevronTexaco was to be granted a concession to the islands themselves -- that
the terminal would be an affront to national sovereignty. Jorge Hank Rhon
joined the chorus of opposition after his recent election as mayor of Tijuana.
Hank Rhon said the project was a "crazy idea" and that he would do all in his
power to halt it. The terminal is to be located 13 kilometers offshore
Tijuana. Although the MIA, for which ChevronTexaco applied almost a year ago,
is an important step forward, the project still faces other permitting
hurdles. 

ChevronTexaco intends to supply gas from the terminal to the Baja peninsula
and to Southern California. That aim is shared by a Shell-Sempra Energy joint
venture that aims to locate an LNG regasification terminal at Costa Azul, some
30 kilometers north of Ensenada. The mayor-elect of Ensenada supports the
Shell-Sempra project, which already has an MIA, but it continues to face
opposition from environmentalists and local residents.

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