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The Clearwater Port Advantage
Clean Energy, Safely… for Ventura County & California
Clearwater Port is proud to offer a progressive alternative for meeting the natural gas needs of Ventura County and California. It combines a safe, environmentally sound approach – using existing infrastructure to preserve the coastal experience and supply affordable clean energy to consumers sooner – with the energy expertise and experience to continue the over 40-year safety record of transporting liquefied natural gas.
The Clearwater Port vision is as straightforward as it is innovative: Transform an existing off-shore oil-drilling platform – 12.6 miles off-shore – into a safe, state-of-the-art natural gas receiving terminal. Clearwater Port preserves California's coastal experience and the ocean horizon – instead of building a new structure off the coast. And since Clearwater Port will not have on-site gas storage, construction time will be shorter and costs will be lower, supplying Ventura County and California with more affordable natural gas sooner than other proposals.
Clearwater Port will be operated as a low cost natural gas service provider and will not own or control natural gas supply delivered through its facility. This means that Clearwater Port will serve the interests of California's natural gas consumers by increasing competition among natural gas suppliers, inspiring competitive pricing and supply reliability.
By moving Ventura County and California from the back to the front of natural gas supply lines, Clearwater Port will provide reliable access to help protect against price spikes – and to help spur the shift to the cleaner alternative fuel vehicles of today, and to be a bridge to the most promising renewable energy technologies of the future.
What We Will Build
Clearwater Port will transform an existing oil-drilling facility (Platform Grace) into a safe, state-of-the-art natural gas receiving terminal for clean-burning natural gas. And using existing pipeline corridors on the sea floor, new, state-of-art pipelines will be installed to deliver natural gas directly to SoCalGas distribution underground system that currently serves Ventura County and California.
How it Will Work
Double-hulled carriers will bring non-toxic liquefied natural gas across the seas to Clearwater Port – 12.6 miles off-shore from Oxnard. There, it will be immediately unloaded and returned to its gaseous state ("regasified") – because Clearwater Port will have no on-site storage. Then, the natural gas will travel through new, state-of-the-art undersea pipelines – which will follow existing pipeline corridors on the seafloor to minimize environmental disturbance -and connect directly into the SoCal Gas pipeline network's underground pipeline system, which brings natural gas to homes and businesses throughout Ventura County and California.
Why It Works for Ventura County & California
By efficiently using existing infrastructure – and not having storage – Clearwater Port can begin supplying local consumers with access to clean energy sooner than other proposals, and with less impact on California's coastal experience. Clearwater Port's unique competitive advantages should translate into lower costs and better services for consumers.
By transforming an existing oil-drilling facility into a safe, state-of-the-art natural gas receiving terminal, Clearwater Port does not need to build a new off-shore structure – preserving the ocean horizon. By using existing undersea pipeline corridors, Clearwater Port will minimize environmental impacts.
And by providing Ventura County and California with safe, reliable access to the affordable supplies of natural gas needed to meet growing demand, Clearwater Port will help spur the transition to the cleaner alternative fuel vehicles that reduce air pollution today – and to the renewable technologies of the future.
Most important, of course, is safety. In more than 40 years of safely transporting natural gas around the globe- with over 40,000 ocean voyages covering over 60 million miles around the globe, to places like Boston Harbor, Belgium and Tokyo – there have been no maritime incidents resulting in a major release or injury.
Moreover, there is Clearwater Port's commitment to safety – from our expertise
and experience, to our comprehensive safety system, to our open and cooperative
approach to working with federal, state and local regulatory officials to ensure
Clearwater Port meets or exceeds their rigorous safety and environmental standards.
Our seasoned management team has a combined 150 years experience in this field, and includes experts involved in developing more than 50 energy infrastructure projects with an aggregate investment of over $15 billion – including in development, construction or operation of nine liquefication facilities worldwide.
Overview of Clearwater Port
- Operations scheduled to begin: As early as 2009
- Location: 12.6 miles off-shore from Oxnard, California
- Type: Natural Gas Receiving Terminal
- Construction Process: Convert existing oil-drilling platform (Platform Grace) into a state-of-the-art natural gas receiving terminal, and use existing undersea pipeline corridors
- Capacity: 1.2 Bcfd (billion cubic feet/day) average; 1.4 BCF peak
- Storage: No on-site storage.
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