LNG operations unscathed by Tsunami

One of the canards launched against the proposed offshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities off California's coast is what might happen in the case of a tsunami, like the one that killed tens of thousands in Southeast Asia on December 26, 2004. Critics of LNG are sure to be disappointed by this news:

• OPEC member Indonesia's 1 million barrel per day (bpd) oil production and exports unaffected;

• Liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing at the Arun facility in Aceh province near the tsunami wave, was briefly disrupted on Sunday but infrastructure was undamaged. Indonesia is the largest LNG exporter in the world;

• Indian port of Madras closed on Sunday but expected to reopen by Tuesday. Madras is expected to handle about 190,000 bpd of crude and oil products this year;

• Operations at India's 190,000 bpd Chennai Petroleum Corp. Ltd refinery, near Madras, unaffected but may see delays in crude supplies due to port closure;