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Canada: Premier Clark Sees Future of LNG Industry in Northwest B.C.

April 25, 2013

Premier Clark Sees Future of LNG Industry in Northwest B.C.

Families and communities in northwest B.C. are already benefiting from Premier Christy Clark’s decisive action to secure a liquefied natural gas industry. During a tour of the new Port Edward Community school, Premier Clark saw a community thriving with hope and preparing for a future powered by natural gas.

Today’s BC Liberals want to grow the economy and create a Debt-Free B.C. A key part of this plan is taking advantage of once-in-a-generation opportunity to safely recover natural gas from the northeast, liquify it in the northwest and export it to Asian markets for five times the price. Over the next 30 years, this resource has the potential to generate $1 trillion in economic activity and generate $100 billion in government revenue to be dedicated to the BC Prosperity Fund.

Producing natural gas in the northeast and turning it into liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the northwest is creating a new industry in B.C. Here are some facts:

  • Over 39,000 construction jobs and over 75,000 jobs will be created once LNG plants are operational;
  • Five companies are pursing major projects in the area; and,
  • Four additional proponents have expressed interest in locations at Grassy Point, near Prince Rupert.

Pacific NorthWest LNG has announced its plan to build a $9 to 11 billion facility in the District of Port Edward which will create 3,500 construction jobs and 300 permanent jobs in a community with the population of 544.

“Natural gas isn’t just an opportunity to strengthen our economy, it’s an opportunity to strengthen our communities,” said Premier Clark. “Port Edward is being revitalized by the natural gas industry. But this is all at risk with the NDP. They will chase jobs to Alberta, while we are creating jobs in communities throughout B.C.”

The NDP have proposed a new tax on the natural gas industry which would drain $210 million in direct revenue from the industry over the next three years. They have not shown industry the clear positions that investors need. They oppose the development of clean-energy Site C, and are discussing a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, even though B.C. is already a world leader in the responsible recovery of the resource.

LNG map2 and charts

Driving forward, Today’s BC Liberals will build on progress by:

  • Creating the BC Prosperity Fund to capture LNG royalty revenues and dedicate all revenues to debt reduction until the provincial debt is eliminated;
  • Enacting legislation to protect the BC Prosperity Fund from becoming a ‘cash-cow’ for wasteful and desperate government spending; and,
  • Once provincial debt is repaid, protect the principal accumulated in the Prosperity Fund to ensure its long-term sustainability for future generations.

LNG Timeline

Backgrounder: Northwestern BC LNG activity:

1. Port Edward

  • Pacific Northwest LNG (Progress Energy Ltd., owned by PETRONAS)

2. Prince Rupert

  • Western Canada LNG – (BG Group and Spectra Energy Natural Gas Transportation System)

3. Kitimat

  • Douglas Channel Energy Project – (BC LNG Export Co-operative LLC: LNG Partners (Texas) and Haisla Nation)
  • Kitimat LNG (Apache Canada Ltd. & Chevron Canada)
  • LNG Canada – (Shell Canada Ltd., PetroChina Company Limited, Korea Gas Corp, Mitsubishi Corporation (KOGAS)) with TransCanada Corporation to build, design, own and operate Coastal GasLink’s 700 kilometer pipeline

4. Grassy Point

LNG map 1

Four new, major international LNG project proposals have come forward following an Expression of Interest (EOI) by the provincial government on Crown land at Grassy Point near Prince Rupert. Proponents who submitted an eligible EOI are:

  • Nexen Inc., an international upstream oil and gas company that develops energy resources in the UK North Sea, offshore West Africa, the United States and Western Canada. Joining Nexen in its submission are CNOOC, China’s largest producer of oil and gas; INPEX Corporation, a petroleum company based out of Japan; and JGC, a leading global engineering company.
  • Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Australia’s largest independent oil and gas company who now operates six of the seven LNG processing trains in Australia.
  • SK E&S, a multi-utility player in Northeast Asia’s gas and electricity business, based in Korea.
  • Imperial Oil Resources Limited, one of Canada’s largest corporations, and ExxonMobil Canada Ltd., the largest international oil and gas company in the world.

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April 25, 2013; Source: bcliberals