RANCHO VIEJO, Texas - Mike Willis, executive director of South Texas Manufacturers Association, says the new liquefied natural gas export terminal at the Port of Brownsville will mean less gas flaring across Texas.
Gas flaring is the burning of natural gas associated with oil extraction.
Willis spoke about NextDecade’s planned LNG terminal at the Port of Brownsville at STMA’s September monthly meeting, held at Rancho Viejo.
“You've probably all seen the satellite pictures of Texas at night. And you see this long wide open string of lights going across South West Texas to Central Texas and that's natural gas being flared off all over the Eagle Ford Shale into our atmosphere. Basically, I think because there is no place else to put it,” Willis said. “And to me projects like this create a lot more demand for natural gas. So, I am not an expert, but to my mind, I'm thinking there's going be a lot less natural gas being flared off into the atmosphere.”
Willis also said the export of liquefied natural gas is also good for geopolitical reasons. Noting that some of NextDecade’s customers for LNG will be in Europe, Willis said: “It (the LNG) is going to go on to ships and it's going to go help Germany and Europe and it's going to tell (Russian President Vladimir) Putin they're not going to be buying any more of his gas and they're not going to freeze in the winter like he told them they would.”
Willis added: “I think there's a lot of national security and global strategic things wrapped up in all of these LNG projects. So it's really come at a good time and I'm sure that's probably part of what helped make the investment decision.”
Willis gave his remarks after detailed powerpoint presentations from representatives with NextDecade and the company’s main contractor for the Port of Brownsville project, Bechtel. In an interview with the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service, Willis thanked the NextDecade and Bechtel, for discussing the project in-depth.
“I think NextDecade and Bechtel knew there would be a lot of manufacturing managers in the room so they knew a highly technical presentation would go over well. So, it was a really good discussion about this amazing project,” Willis said, after the meeting had concluded.
“It was a really informative presentation and it makes you appreciate how complicated that massive multi-billion dollar project is going to be.”
Willis said over 80 people from across the Rio Grande Valley were in attendance.
Editor’s Note: The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service is currently checking with NextDecade and Bechtel to see how much, if any, of their presentation can be reported on.
