Philadelphia May Be Marketed As Natural Gas Export Hub

• Marie Cusick
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  Marie Cusick was the Harrisburg reporter for StateImpact Pennsylvania.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the country’s largest municipal gas utility, Philadelphia Gas Works, may be marketed as a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal.
The push to export comes as the industry has seen a boom in shale production. It’s produced a glut of gas that has depressed prices in the U.S., while prices overseas remain high.
From the Inquirer:

The brokers selling Philadelphia Gas Works hope to plant the idea of exporting liquefied natural gas and other potential growth opportunities in the minds of prospective buyers of the city-owned utility. “There’s a lot of money to invest in utilities right now,” Paul Dabbar, the JPMorgan banker who is the city’s lead broker on the PGW sale, said Monday. “They’re just looking for growth opportunities.”
JPMorgan and its partner, Loop Capital Markets, are preparing to formally issue a request for qualifications in early August from prospective bidders for the 176-year-old gas works …
PGW already produces liquefied gas at its Port Richmond plant, but the facility is designed to store the super-cooled liquid for use on peak-demand days in the winter. LNG export facilities are multi-billion-dollar investments, and much larger than the Port Richmond plant.

The Obama administration is currently reviewing approximately 20 applications for LNG export terminals, although it’s unclear how many will be ultimately approved.
The closest proposed export facility to the Marcellus Shale is in Cove Point, Maryland.

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