No one has paid to use Jordan Cove Energy Project’s proposed liquefied natural gas terminal on Coos Bay’s North Spit. It hasn’t gotten the go-ahead from federal officials. And the federal government thinks Americans will need less foreign gas as domestic suppliers ramp up production.

But the LNG terminal’s developers remain confident their project is needed, even as the economy sours.

There are six shippers, including utility and industrial companies, that have signed binding contracts to use the pipeline connecting the terminal to a junction near Malin. And Jordan Cove officials are confident energy companies will come calling once they get their permits lined up.

“We are getting no signals from the parties that would effectively say ‘We need them,’ that are contrary to what they said a year ago,” said Bob Braddock, the company’s project manager. “They still need them.”

Officials in the Oregon Department of Energy agree there will be a need for more natural gas in the coming years. They contend, however, that supplies can come from domestic sources in the Rocky Mountains.

Lou Torres, a spokesman for the department, said Gov. Ted Kulongoski ordered a study about the state’s natural gas needs last year. The results don’t necessarily say LNG is a bad thing, but that it isn’t the best solution for Oregon.

“We felt the better option, and the less costly option, is to build a pipeline from the Rockies,” he said.

That thinking is in keeping with federal energy forecasts.

Last year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted foreign natural gas would account for 14 percent of domestic consumption. This year, the agency’s experts have revised the estimate to only 3 percent.

This is due in part because companies are pumping out more natural gas in this country, said EIA energy specialist John Cogan. LNG imports are expected to increase by about a trillion cubic feet through 2018 to compensate for a decrease in Canadian exports of natural gas. But after that, the EIA projects LNG imports to decrease to a little more than 800 billion cubic feet a year.

That may seem like a lot, but there are seven LNG terminals under construction in North America. In addition, 14 projects have won Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval but haven’t started construction, including one on the Columbia River.

Braddock doesn’t disagree with the government’s estimates, but he still thinks there will be a need for the LNG terminal on Coos Bay’s North Spit.

“We think it will be well utilized because of its location,” he said.

There aren’t any LNG terminals on the West Coast and the only one with FERC approval, on the Columbia River at Bradwood Landing, is having problems getting land-use permits.

Coos Bay makes sense, Braddock said, because the terminal would be close to storage facilities in the Sacramento River Valley in California. Access to those facilities would allow energy companies to purchase and ship LNG during the non-peak season when it’s cheaper.

The demand for natural gas in other parts of the country may decline, but Braddock said there are energy companies that still want access to a terminal on the West Coast, even in light of declining demands in the near term.

Part of the reason the current economic crisis hasn’t concerned energy officials is because of the project’s timeline. Terminal construction wouldn’t begin until next spring at the earliest, and won’t start operating for at least five years. The EIA expects natural gas consumption — as opposed to LNG imports — to decrease over the coming year by about 600 billion cubic feet. States on the West Coast would account for nearly half of that total.

Afterward, demand would slowly increase and it is that movement that keeps suppliers interested in Jordan Cove’s project.

“What they are concerned about is five years from now. ... Then what does it look 25 years from now,” said Braddock.

The pipeline operator, Williams, said shippers have committed to transporting 1.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. Williams spokeswoman Michele Swaner said the agreements, signed in February 2007, aren’t the same as a contract, but it demonstrates there is interest in the line.