Experience andexpertise 30 www. bus- ex. com NOVEMBER 09

W hen Excelerate Energy got its start in July 2003, the company's sponsor, George Kaiser, and his co- founders recognized a need for new ways of importing natural gas into the North American marketplace. At the time, demand was outstripping the domestic supply, and the marketplace was not well equipped to import large quantities of the fuel, which is used to heat and cool homes and businesses as well as to power electric generation plants and industrial facilities. With several key co-founders on board from the former liquefied natural gas ( LNG) unit at El Paso Energy, Excelerate began to address the gaps in the market with technology that enables LNG to be regasified at offshore facilities. Co- founder and chief operating officer Jonathan Cook says Excelerate, which is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, began securing access to the handful of LNG terminals in the United States and by the end of 2003 had struck a deal to acquire the energy bridge assets of El Paso Energy, which was eager to divest itself of the assets in the wake of the Enron fallout and other hard times for energy companies. " When we were with El Paso we had pioneered the technology of onboard regasification, and we saw that technology as an opportunity that was better positioned than traditional land- based facilities," says Cook. Around the same time, Excelerate acquired the rights to ships owned by Belgium- based Exmar that had onboard facilities that could transform LNG back into gas form and discharge it to receiving terminals. In 2005 Excelerate completed the Gulf Gateway project, an offshore terminal located some 116 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite the distance from land, Excelerate had to install just eight miles of new pipeline to tap into existing gas infrastructure. Two Experience expertise Excelerate Energy has developed a reputation for having the technological expertise to bring liquefied natural gas ( LNG) projects to fruition. The company's COO tells Keith Regan how that knowledge is being leveraged around the globe to help provide more energy flexibility to economies worldwide Excelerate Energy NOVEMBER 09 www. bus- ex. com 31