Cove Point Files Second Cooling Cargo Settlement
On March 2, 2012, Dominion Cove Point LNG, LP (“Cove Point”) filed a proposed settlement which would govern the terms of the second purchase and sale of LNG supplies needed to maintain the cryogenic portions of the Cove Point LNG terminal cooled to the temperature necessary to receive LNG imports. The settlement, necessitated by the lack of LNG imports to the terminal and supported by Cove Point’s firm import shippers, is temporary and covers only the second purchase and sale of gas and related cost recovery mechanism. A permanent mechanism to address the cooling issues will be proposed in a comprehensive settlement to be filed later this March 2012 in Cove Point’s rate case in Docket No. RP11-2137. The settlement is available from FERC’s eLibrary in Docket No. RP11-2136.
On a related issue, today the Baltimore Sun published an op-ed opposing the use of the Cove Point LNG Terminal to export natural gas, citing environmental concerns related to shale gas production which would presumably be the source of the gas to be exported.