LNG Update: Engineers back Cabrillo Port; Regulator joins Esperanza Team

In one of the latest developments in California's liquefied natural gas terminal race, BHP Billiton's offshore project in Ventura County has a strong new ally.

Calling the venture "an essential energy development that requires the most highly skilled and trained personnel," the Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association (MEBA) has announced its endorsement of a proposal by BHP Billiton (BHP) to construct a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility approximately 20 miles off the coast of Oxnard, California.

Meanwhile a former State Regulator has signed on in support of an offshore project near Long Beach:

David Maul, former manager of the California Energy Commission's Natural Gas Office; ENTRIX, Inc., a professional environmental consulting company specializing in environmental permitting and compliance for major offshore oil and gas projects in California and the United States; Project Consulting Services, Inc., a leader in engineering, construction, management and inspection of onshore and offshore pipelines; and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP, an interdisciplinary law firm with leading practices in environmental, land use and energy legal advice and in project development and finance.

"As the former head of the California Energy Commission's Natural Gas Office, I'm intimately familiar with every LNG project on the West Coast," stated Maul, president of Maul Energy Advisors. "I chose to work with Esperanza Energy because of the company's strong commitment to design and build a LNG project that is responsive to California's unique environmental and regulatory sensitivities."