Canada: Kitimat LNG Project Moves Forward

The Government of Canada, Government of British Columbia, KM LNG Operating General Partnership (KM LNG) and the Haisla Nation announced an important milestone in the development of the Kitimat LNG facility with the signing of the Interim Regulatory Agreement.

The agreement establishes the BC Oil and Gas Commission as the regulator for the proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility on the Haisla Nation reserve near Kitimat, British Columbia. This will enable the BC Oil and Gas Commission to begin the regulatory and engineering review of the proposed Kitimat LNG facility. The agreement will also enable the project to move forward while federal regulations are established under the First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act (FNCIDA).

“Helping First Nations take advantage of strategic economic development partnerships, such as this LNG facility, is one way our Government is working to create Aboriginal employment on reserve,” said John Duncan, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. “I congratulate the Haisla Nation for its visionary approach to pursuing opportunities that will strengthen their community and the region’s economy as a whole.”

“Establishing an LNG industry in B.C. will increase economic prosperity and create jobs,” said British Columbia’s Minister of Energy and Mines Rich Coleman. “We’re confident that B.C. can create a rich and thriving LNG sector that will bring jobs to communities which will keep those dollars in our local economies.”

The Kitimat LNG facility is currently one of two initiatives in British Columbia that will utilize FNCIDA to regulate large projects on reserve lands. This legislation allows the federal government to produce regulations for complex commercial and industrial development projects on reserve that replicate provincial regulatory regimes.

“Recognizing how very important KM LNG is to the economic future of the Haisla people, we initiated this process in 2009,” says Chief Councillor Ellis Ross. “We are pleased to see this Interim Agreement signed and we now look forward to joining Canada and British Columbia in the FNCIDA tripartite agreement early in 2012. This process has been key to the Kitimat LNG project, and the economic benefits it is bringing the Haisla, moving ahead. We share Premier Clark’s interest in seeing approval processes move more quickly where projects are environmentally sound and where Aboriginal consultation and accommodation has been completed.”

“This partnership is a result of strong relationships with the Haisla Nation,” said Janine McArdle, President of Kitimat LNG. “It is through this collaborative approach and discussions that we have established a successful partnership.”

The Kitimat LNG facility is being constructed on Haisla Nation reserve land at Bish Cove, approximately 650 kilometres (400 miles) north of Vancouver. Initially, the facility will have the capacity to produce approximately five million metric tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year. That is the equivalent of nearly 700 million cubic feet per day, enough to heat roughly 1.3 million average homes.

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LNG World News Staff, March 19, 2012; Image: Kitimat LNG