FAQ
Salt cavern gas storage and LNG receiving seem like a natural combination, why has this not been done before?
Europe and North America have lots of salt cavern gas storage but until recently little need for LNG importation. Japan, Taiwan, and Korea have lots of LNG importation but no salt formations suitable for storage cavern development. Caverns can hold more gas, at lower cost than can be held in LNG tanks so now that LNG is coming to North America and Europe the combination of cavern gas storage and LNG receiving is being developed.
Why can't LNG be put directly into salt caverns?
Salt is a plastic material that becomes more fluid at higher temperatures and more brittle under lower temperatures. LNG is too cold in its liquid form to be placed directly into salt caverns.
What is the best application of this patented technology?
A dual use facility that would store gas sourced from pipelines and would also store gas sourced from LNG imports is a good example of the possibilities of this technology. Developers in Europe and North America are describing this type of facility now and it is likely that in the next five years several projects will go forward with such a combination of gas storage and LNG receiving. The natural gas business rewards marketers that have flexibility and optionality in their marketing program. Nothing is more flexible than a large volume of storage capacity coupled with high deliverability and both pipeline and LNG sourced gas.
What is the business model of Conversion Gas Imports?
Conversion Gas Imports licenses its patented technology to developers and operators that use that technology to reduce capital and operating costs in their gas storage and LNG facilities. A small portion of the savings these users can accomplish go to CGI under license agreements in the form of fees and running royalties.