Port of Longview Rejects Propane Terminal Proposal

News
The Port of Longview, Wash. board of commissioners has unanimously voted to discontinue all discussions with Houston-based Waterside Energy LLC that sought to build the first oil refinery on the West Coast in more than 25 years and construct a propane and butane terminal capable of handling 75,000 bbld. Waterside’s proposal outlined a 30,000-bbld refinery with the capacity to also produce 15,000 bbld of biofuel. The rejection follows commissioners voting down a previous LPG proposal by Sage Midstream (Houston) last March to construct an export terminal at the port following community and environmental group opposition.

The most recent project promised to provide 700 construction jobs and 180 full-time jobs. The combined crude and biofuels refinery attempted to capitalize on the West Coast’s demand for cleaner-burning fuels, and that clean fuels component initially intrigued many, including some environmental groups and state officials.

Explaining its decision, commissioners said the developer missed a deadline to supply financial information, and information provided past the deadline “was heavily redacted and failed to communicate financial support of the project.” “This isn’t about fossil fuels. I want to make that clear,” said commissioner Doug Averett. “The Port of Longview is open for business and all project proposals will be evaluated on their individual merits, not the commodity.” “We have a fiduciary responsibility to ensure project proposals are viable,” added commission president Bob Bagaason. “This decision is based on the proponent’s failure to demonstrate the project’s financial wherewithal, plain and simple.”

“We’re disappointed in the commission’s decision,” said Lou Soumas, Waterside CEO, who noted that his company had already spent $1.7 million on the project and that he thought port commissioners had made their decision before they voted at the Feb. 23 meeting. “They didn’t go into the meeting without a decision in mind. They’re doing this stuff behind closed doors.” Soumas said Waterside was pursuing other ports and landowners in Washington and Oregon in an attempt to move the project forward.

Plans at the port, whose website touts, “business opportunities are endless at the Port of Longview,” called for Waterside Energy’s LPG export terminal to receive up to 75,000 bbld by rail from Canada and North Dakota. A volume of up to 1.1 MMbbl would be stored in five spherical tanks capable of holding 23,000 bbl each, one 550,000-bbl tank, and two 225,000-bbl refrigerated tanks. Propane and butane would then be exported to Asia on VLGCs.

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