Harvey Gulf moves ahead on LNG fueling facility

JUNE 10, 2013 — Harvey Gulf International CEO Shane J. Guidry said today that the company has secured plans to construct and operate the first LNG marine fueling facility in the U.S. and has signed a contract for a sixth LNG-fueled OSV at TY Offshore’s Gulfport, MS, shipyard.

The LNG fueling facility is to be located at Harvey Gulf’s vessel facility in Port Fourchon, LA, and will be an important addition to the growing national LNG supply infrastructure, supporting critical operations of the oil and gas industry’s offshore support vessel fleet operating on clean burning LNG.

Guidry commented, “To date, Harvey Gulf is the only company in North America that has committed $400 million to build, own and operate LNG powered offshore support vessels as well as two LNG fueling docks. It is clear that Harvey Gulf’s entire organization is committed to do its part to help reduce our impact on the environment.”

To support the development of the LNG fueling facility, Harvey Gulf has hired CH·IV International of Houston, Texas as the EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contractor. The facility will consist of two sites each having 270,000 gallons of LNG storage capacity. The tanks will be stainless steel Type “C” pressure vessels with vacuum insulation and carbon steel exteriors. Each facility will be able to transfer 500 gallons of LNG per minute. Aside from its primary role of supporting the oil and gas industry offshore fleet, the facility will be capable of supporting over-the-road vehicles that operate on LNG. The estimate to complete the first site is February 2014, with the second site following shortly thereafter.

Expanding on its commitment to safety and security of vessel operations and port facilities, Harvey Gulf has actively enlisted the expertise of the U.S. Coast Guard to participate at all levels of the development of this facility. Guidry noted, “The success of our LNG newbuild program would not be possible without the gracious cooperation and commitment of the USCG personnel.”

With the sixth OSV from TY Offshore, Harvey Gulf will become the largest owner and operator of LNG powered OSVs in the world. These OSV’s represent an ongoing collaborative effort by STX Marine, Harvey Gulf, ABS and the USCG to develop the most environmentally friendly OSV’s that will operate in the Gulf of Mexico, complying with the stringent ABS Enviro+ notation.  With 43 persons on board, the 302 ft x 64ft x 24.5 ft vessels carry over 16,000 bbl of liquid mud, 10,000 cu.ft. of dry cement and 1,500 bbl of Methanol. Each has 7,530 kW of installed poweri and has 2,700 kW Z-drives.