NEB receives Bear Head LNG’s export application

Bear Head LNG, a unit of LNG Limited, has filed an application with Canada’s National Energy Board for an export licence for up to 12 mtpa of LNG, CEO and Project Director John Godbold said.

The Application also seeks a licence to import up to 503 billion cubic feet of natural gas annually from the United States.

“At this point, all of our major Canadian governmental approvals are in place or applications are before the regulators. Our NEB filing represents a major milestone for the Bear Head LNG project,” Godbold said.

Bear Head LNG is seeking licences to import natural gas from the United States and export LNG from Nova Scotia for a 25-year term. Under the NEB filing, exports would be authorized at 8 mtpa beginning in 2019, increasing to 12 mtpa in 2024 depending on market and supply conditions. Natural gas from producing basins in both Canada and the United States, potentially including the Marcellus shale, provide options for natural gas supply to the facility.

Bear Head LNG had initially proposed start-up production of only 4 mtpa of LNG, stepping up to 8 mtpa in 2021 and 12 mtpa in 2024. Ian Salmon, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Commercial Officer, said the decision to expand the initial capacity of the facility was based on market response and gas supply projections.

Bear Head LNG retained Roland Priddle, former Chair of the NEB, to assess if the project’s proposed export volumes are surplus to reasonably foreseeable Canadian requirements.

Priddle’s report notes that the NEB’s confidence in Canadian and North American gas resource has been well placed, continental production has expanded dramatically and Canadians have continued to be able to meet their gas requirements in an entirely satisfactory manner at prevailing market prices.

Priddle also suggests that the Nova Scotia and Maritimes natural gas market could benefit from projects anchoring large-volume incremental supplies of natural gas.

“In this connection, the Bear Head LNG project,  because of its major gas requirements, could be the catalyst for a more effective Maritimes gas market functioning,” said Priddle.

A separate study conducted by Ziff Energy for Bear Head LNG concludes export proposed by Bear Head LNG will not cause Canadians any difficulty in meeting their natural gas requirements at fair market prices during the forecast period.

Bear Head LNG already has 12 permits in place to build an LNG import facility, including an approved Environmental Assessment; permits to construct a gas plant facility from Nova Scotia Environment (NSE) and the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (UARB); and a Development Permit from the municipal government in Richmond County. Modifications for the conversion from an LNG import to export facility were the subject of regulatory filings presented to the UARB and NSE on Oct. 31.

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Press Release; Image: LNG Limited