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Beard's cousin, Lonnie Beard, a commercial fisherman, said he might apply for one of the terminal's 90 permanent jobs because of tough times in his lifelong business.

As the nation's thirst for energy continues to grow, market prices have sparked new interest in natural gas, which once was regarded as a nuisance in the oil fields.

In 1999, gas traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange at an average price of $2.35 per million British thermal units. Last year, the price averaged $9.20. In between, there were price spikes as high as $20.

The United States consumes about 60 billion cubic feet of gas per day - about a quarter of its energy consumption. Gas heats more than 60 million U.S. homes and is the fuel of choice for generating power in many areas.

At the same time, gas supplies are getting tighter.

In the Gulf of Mexico, production has declined by more than 4 billion cubic feet per day since 2001, while production in the North Sea is dropping by 15 percent a year as easy-to-reach deposits play out. Alternatives such as deepwater drilling in the Gulf, drilling deep into the bottom of shallower Gulf waters and going after gas in the Rocky Mountains are more expensive.

Importing natural gas in its liquid state often is a cheaper alternative, said Darcel Hulse, Sempra chief executive officer.

In its liquid form, 600 times the volume of the natural gas product can be stored in the same space, making Sempra's storage the equivalent of 10 billion cubic feet of natural gas when heated and moved on to pipelines.

The plant will be able to reheat about 1.5 billion cubic feet daily.

Natural gas is important for more than home heating and production of electricity. The chemical industry uses gas as a raw ingredient in products and to generate steam and power. The industry says an ample supply of gas with stable prices is needed to keep the domestic chemical business competitive with foreign companies who often have access to much-cheaper fuel.