America Eying Massive Gas Exploration Contract

A rich speck of land, the Quintana Island is a 7-mile stretch off Freeport, Texas, into the Gulf of Mexico. For 200 years, the island has transformed from a home to a Mexican fort to a busy seaport shipping out cotton enabled by early Texas farmers. In 2002, Michael S. Smith had entered the island by housing a dozen dilapidated homes accompanied by a bird sanctuary and beach.

It also facilitated the storage of tanks built on a fill dredged from navigation channels. Smith revolutionized the island spending $14 billion, and presently owns a significant interest in Freeport LNG. Freeport LNG has recorded exports of natural Gas up to 2 billion cubic feet daily. Majority of which is the shale Gas utilizing horizontal drilling techniques along with hydraulic fracking. The current market prices represent the daily output worth about $14 million; Freeport LNG acquires $5 million per day in tolling revenue.

Freeport became fully operational in 2019 and then loaded 200 cargoes assured to Japan, South Korea, and Croatia. A single shipment delivered by Freeport is capable of satisfying the annual energy needs of thousands. This year, Freeport is set to export 15 million tons of LNG, equivalent to the energy attributed to 130 million barrels of oil, and is anticipated to incur almost $2.5 billion in revenue.

Michael S. Smith is a notable contributor to the limited partnership with 63% ownership worth $1 billion. Smith also addresses the initial strategic mistakes in understanding the market wherein he had raised $800 million for building an import terminal, assuming the U.S to realize the shortage of natural Gas. The project was considered obsolete in 2008.