The Canadian liquid natural gas company is a portfolio company of a fund advised by West Face Capital, a Toronto, Canada-based investment management firm. Liberty is the developer of the Port Ambroise project. West Face Capital and its affiliates are currently developing a deepwater port project in northwest England (United Kingdom), known as Port Meridian.
Liberty is owned by a Cayman Island-based investment fund, West Face Long Term Opportunities Global Master LP, which is managed by West Face Capital Inc. West Face Capital is a Toronto-based hedge fund with several Canadian energy executives among its members.
Port Ambrose and Port Meridian are both being developed in coordination with Höegh LNG, a Norway LNG company. The Port Ambrose project team were also involved in the permitting and construction of the LNG deepwater terminals located offshore of Boston, Mass.
The Port Ambrose project is intended to facilitate the delivery of supercooled natural gas from overseas to a deepwater docking station located in the Atlantic Ocean 19 miles off Jones Beach on Long Island, and 29 miles off Long Branch, New Jersey. This port would serve as a docking station for massive ocean-going tankers to unload and pump the gas to Long Island and New York City.
The developers are also looking at Port of Coeymans, one of three potential locations being considered for a place to stage and fabricate pipes for the project, according to a final environmental report issued last month in favor of the project by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Opposition to the proposed deepwater terminal
Opponents are coming together to rally against the project, claiming Liberty is not telling the public the true intent for building the facility. Opponents say Liberty wants the port to be used to export U.S. natural gas from the hydrofracking boom for sale overseas.
According to the Coast Guard report addressing the LNG boom in the U.S., the Port Ambrose project would not “influence” the natural gas fracking boom currently under way in the Marcellus Shale in nearby Pennsylvania.
“Marcellus Shale development is both widespread and certain in nature and timing, making it highly difficult to identify and quantify cumulative impacts of possible future drilling related to pipeline projects,” the report said.
The report does not address historically low gas prices in the U.S., nor does it mention the recent trend to exporting gas overseas, not importing it.
Among the groups opposing the Port Ambrose project are: Catskill Mountainkeeper, Food & Water Watch, the Surfrider Foundation, Sane Energy Project, All Our Energy, United for Action, Environmental Action, and NYPIRG.
There are currently four LNG import terminals on the East Coast, including Maryland, Massachusetts, and Georgia. Two of the import terminals already have applications into the federal government seeking permission to export LNG. Additionally, a new LNG terminal is under proposal off the coast of Maine.
The Port Ambrose project requires that Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey must give their approval. Jessica Roff, programs manager of Catskill Mountainkeeper, said, “Gov. Cuomo said no to fracking, now it’s time to stop building out fossil fuel infrastructure in New York, and move to renewable energy.”
