Port of Longview CEO Geir-Eilif Kalhagen said this week that
negotiations with a Texas company that wants to build a propane and butane
export terminal at the port have not progressed well up to this point.
During the July 8 Port of Longview Commission meeting,
Kalhagen told the three-member panel that he was disappointed with the talks so
far with Haven Energy, a subsidiary of Houston-based natural gas-related
infrastructure company Sage Midstream.
Haven is proposing an export facility to move propane and
butane currently being flared in the Midwest to energy markets around the
Pacific Rim. The company says it’s looking at building a unit train accessible
rail unloading facility, storage tanks and ship loading area at the port with
the capability to load marine vessels with up to an about capacity of 550,000
barrels.
The company’s proposal calls for the cargo to be railed to
the port from the North Dakota and South Dakota, then refrigerated and stored
on site at Longview before being loaded to vessels for export to Hawaii, Mexico
and Asia.
In April, the company entered into a one-year option
agreement with the port to evaluate the project, but according to Kalhagen,
lease negotiations haven’t gone particularly well.
“We’re probably farther apart now than we’ve ever been in
the process,” he said.
“I think there’s a lack of understanding of the
environmental concerns the State of Washington and the Port of Longview have,
as far as looking at these kinds of projects,” Kalhagen told the harbor board.
“There’s also the realization that this is not Texas,” Kalhagen said. “The
pricing structure available in Texas is not available in the state of
Washington.”
Negotiations, however, are expected to continue throughout
the one-year option window.
