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OceanWay Welcomes Community's Input During Open House and Public Hearing on Proposed Natural Gas Project

Posted on: Thursday, 27 September 2007, 00:00 CDT

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Members of the public had an opportunity tonight to learn about the proposed OceanWay offshore natural gas project and to suggest issues to be included in the upcoming detailed environmental and safety review that is conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard and the City of Los Angeles.

The U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Maritime Administration and the City of Los Angeles held an open house and scoping hearing as one of the first steps in a thorough environmental assessment of Woodside's OceanWay project. Tonight's scoping hearing is the first of several hearings that will take place throughout the public review process.

"I think tonight was a success. This is the first time we have had an open forum to hear from the local community about what will be important to them in the upcoming environmental assessment," said Woodside Natural Gas President Steve Larson. "We will continue our community outreach over the next few months, and we are happy to meet with any interested individuals or groups to explain our environmentally sensitive approach to bringing much-needed natural gas to southern California and help curb rising energy costs."

OceanWay will use a ship and buoy system to deliver natural gas to California, unloading at two buoys 28 miles offshore Los Angeles, and connecting into the existing gas network via undersea pipelines. When ships are not moored to the buoys to unload their cargo, no permanent offshore surface or floating structures will be visible.

Onshore, dual pipelines will be installed beneath the ground and will connect to the natural gas network four miles inland, joining the 90,000 miles of underground gas pipelines that already crisscross Southern California and Los Angeles.

"I applaud OceanWay for designing a system that places the community's interests and concerns at the forefront," said Mike Arias, president of the Neighborhood Council of Westchester/Playa del Rey. "They have designed a natural gas import project that will be located so far from our homes that most of us will never know it's there. I feel confident that this project addresses the safety concerns I have for Westchester and Playa del Rey while providing a much-needed new natural gas supply that can help prevent future energy shortages and, hopefully, huge energy bills."

David Voss, a former Los Angeles Airport Commissioner and past president of the LAX Coastal Area Chamber of Commerce, congratulated Woodside Natural Gas "for its unprecedented commitment to community safety and environmental protection."

"Each of OceanWay's specially equipped ships will deliver enough gas to power 43,000 homes for a year," said Voss. "This reliable new supply of natural gas is vital to the business community and to our economic future."

"I was particularly impressed by the fact that OceanWay engineers designed their distribution pipe path to match the underground landscape and to avoid future land movement pitfalls," added Denny Schneider, president of the Alliance for a Regional Solution to Airport Congestion and co-founder of Westchester Neighborhood Association. "Further, since the pipes will be placed deep underground and will interface directly with the existing gas distribution system, no onshore storage facilities will exist to hazard the neighborhood."

John Ruhlen, the Westchester Streetscape Improvement Association's president, also praised OceanWay.

"After 30 years of working to beautify our community, I am so pleased to see OceanWay will preserve our ocean views," he said. "OceanWay's ships will be so far from our shores that most of us will never know they are there. OceanWay will also protect our local environment by meeting all air and water quality standards. This is a project that will help us keep our community beautiful while delivering the energy we need to continue to prosper."

OceanWay is a safe and secure solution for California's energy future, delivering much-needed natural gas for consumers while minimizing its environmental footprint. OceanWay will:

* Protect the environment by meeting all federal and state air and water quality standards. * Preserve ocean views because OceanWay will not require the construction of any onshore storage facilities or permanent offshore surface structures. * Commit to community safety by locating the project 28 miles offshore, far removed from population centers and existing shipping lanes. * Use proven technology, relying primarily on ocean air for regasification and a buoy system similar to one that performed reliably and safely during Hurricane Katrina. * Provide a secure and reliable energy source for California, capable of supplying 15 percent of California's annual natural gas demand and adding valuable peak supply during events like heat waves. * Protect consumers by establishing a critically needed new natural gas portal on the West Coast, thereby adding new supply diversity to California's energy portfolio. This should guard against price spikes that occurred in past California energy crises. * Create jobs by committing to US staffing and flagging of the regasification ships. This commitment contributes new opportunities for training a highly skilled maritime workforce.

California's energy future is at risk. Natural gas supplies accessible to California are limited, and as a result, prices have doubled since 2001. California's growing population and booming trillion-dollar economy will demand even more energy in the years ahead.

Yet California produces just 15 percent of the natural gas it needs to meet current demand. California currently does not have a way to safely import natural gas. Instead, the state relies on pipelines from other states and Canada to deliver 85 percent of its natural gas needs. California is now facing unprecedented competition for those gas supplies from the fast-growing states of Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico, as well as rapidly increasing demand for these gas supplies in the northeastern states and Canada.

OceanWay will be built and operated by Woodside Natural Gas Inc., a California-based company committed to a California-based solution to the state's energy needs. Woodside Natural Gas is an affiliate of Woodside, a publicly traded company in business since 1954. Woodside has a market capitalization of more than $27 billion, offices worldwide and more than 3,000 employees. Woodside has a successful history of collaborating with local communities and safely delivering natural gas by ship, moving more than 2,300 liquefied natural gas cargos around the world including the U.S. More information on OceanWay may be obtained at http://www.oceanway.com/.

CONTACT: Michael Hinrichs 310-264-4492 Michael.hinrichs@woodsidenaturalgas.com

Woodside Natural Gas Inc.

CONTACT: Michael Hinrichs of Woodside Natural Gas, +1-310-264-4492,Michael.hinrichs@woodsidenaturalgas.com

Web site: http://www.oceanway.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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