Natural Gas, and the Ship Channel
Naturally suited — that, in a nutshell, describes why Louisiana is the center of America's petrochemical business. Our location on the Gulf, where beneath the sea floor are the largest deposits of oil and gas, is the primary reason there are 125,000 miles of pipeline in Louisiana1 while most of the state's offshore oil platforms are in the central Gulf, most natural gas platforms are in the western Gulf. And where do most of those natural gas pipelines come ashore? Cameron, to feed the nation.
The Ship Channel
And, if you're interested, the Calcasieu Ship Channel was built a century ago, both to deepen and straighten the Calcasieu River to create a major port in Lake Charles, opened in 1926. This created Monkey Island, just across the old river. It also destroyed the Calcasieu Lighthouse, a boilerplate iron lighthouse built in 1876 and in operation until 1939. Because the lighthouse would sit right in the middle of the new ship channel (literally a stone's throw from the restaurant!), it was cut up and removed.
A Brief History of LNG
Decades ago, industry began storing natural gas, cooled to a liquid state (about-260°F) in massive above-ground tanks engineered to withstand the pressures created.2 In fact, Trunkline LNG (now called Lake Charles LNG), located a few miles north of Cameron Parish, was built 45 years ago to import natural gas from other countries like Africa to supply America's energy needs. But with the invention of new extraction technologies, the nation now has more than enough and can export the product overseas in specially designed ocean tankers. Many companies are applying for permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") to build LNG export facilities. These applications take years and millions of dollars of pre-construction investment just to be granted a license to proceed.
At Present
There are only two LNG export facilities in operation in Cameron Parish (and two others operating in Louisiana). There are SEVEN other LNG projects planned for Cameron Parish alone! Venture Global Calcasieu Pass received FERC's Authorization to Proceed with construction in February 2019, so engineering and construction of infrastructure is underway. Commissioning and permanent operations are expected to begin in 2021.
Why are we calling the development "Lighthouse Bend"?
When the Calcasieu Ship Channel was built beginning a century ago to connect the Gulf to the port in Lake Charles, the final piece was to cut straight across the final bend in the river at Cameron in 1940. The channel dredging created present-day Monkey Island and also required removal of the Calcasieu Lighthouse, first lit in 1876. Cameron Parish is also home to the Sabine Pass Lighthouse, about 38 miles west. There’s a bronze historical marker near our development on Davis Road and Lighthouse Bend sits on the eastern shore of that same bend in the Calcasieu River, the “Old River”, or as locals call it, “The Loop.”