Article from Financial Post on PETRONAS-Led BC LNG Project

Last week it was announced that Shell purchased the BG Group in Prince Rupert.  Some are wondering if Shell will decide to focus on their Kitimat LNG project.  Time will tell!

In the meantime, here’s an article from the Financial Post about Petronas and their commitment towards a LNG plant in the Prince Rupert area:

LOW OIL PRICES IMPROVING ECONOMICS FOR PETRONAS-LED BC LNG PROJECT
by Yadullah Hussain, Financial Post
· Apr. 9, 2015 | Last Updated: Apr. 10, 2015 9:54 PM ET

TORONTO – Low oil and gas prices have improved the economics for a Petronas-led natural gas export project on the British Columbia coast as the company looks to make a final investment decision in June.

“Over the past three months, we have driven costs down … in a very significant way,” Michael Culbert, CEO of Pacific NorthWest LNG, a consortium led by Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas, told an energy conference in Toronto this week.

“As oil prices came down, other projects started to slide and defer, and we were in a situation where the EPCs could take the contingencies they had built in their proposals and take those out, and we were able to lock

Pacific NorthWest is also negotiating for lower costs with TransCanada Corp., which is contracted to build the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission project from the North Montney region.

After consultations with First Nations, the pipeline’s length increased to 900 kilometres compared to the original mandate of 750 km, with as much as 100 km offshore.

“We are working very closely with TransCanada and we expect to have final pricing as we get to the end of April.”

The federal government’s allowance for capital accelerated costs, which gives LNG proponents a tax break, has also “added to the certainty,” Culbert said.

The proponent is expecting to receive a decision from the National Energy Board on tolling for the pipeline shortly, but another permit from the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency for the project is taking “a lot longer than anybody anticipated.”

“That’s going to be ultimately the long-date item. So, a commercial final investment decision by June, and we will then wait for whatever final permitting and environmental assessment comes.”

Royal Dutch Shell’s $70 billion acquisition of BG Group Plc this week doesn’t affect timelines for the Petronas project.

“We’ll focus on what we’re doing and let the competitors work on their business,” Culbert told investors.