Following the death of Petronas’ Pacific NorthWest LNG project on Lelu Island in July the focus has shifted on where the other liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects stand.
The Northern View reached out to each of the project’s proposed for Prince Rupert and received a response from two of the seven. Any updates we found were on the project website or from the provincial LNG project website.
Aurora LNG
The company exploring the project for Digby Island is Nexen Energy, a subsidiary of CNOOC Ltd., INPEX Corp and JGC Corp. The project would handle 24 million metric tonnes per year. It received its licence from the National Energy Board on October 2014 to export for 25 years after its first export. The licence expires 10 years from the date of approval.
Updates for the project are on the company’s website. Starting mid-July, Aurora LNG demolished decrepit buildings from the former marine base in Casey Cove on Digby Island. The work was expected to take five to six weeks.
“Once we have determined it is safe to begin work, the team will begin demolition using excavators barged over from Prince Rupert,” said Dan Murray, Project Manager for Aurora LNG on the website. “We will only be removing the structures that are above ground, and the waste materials will be loaded into containers and taken to a qualified landfill in Alberta.”
If the project moves ahead, pending a provincial envrionmental approval, the company’s proposed timeline states construction would start some time between 2020 to 2024.
WCC LNG Ltd.
Every month, the company, which is a partnership between ExxonMobil Canada Ltd. and Imperial Oil Resources Limited, opens its community office in 101 First Avenue East for three days and representatives provide information on the project.
This month, the office saw more traffic than usual, following the cancellation of Pacific NorthWest LNG’s project in July. This project would be on Lot. 444 inside Tuck Inlet and within the city limits of Prince Rupert.
“Our engineering team refined the project design, including the overall layout, marine berth concept, and material offloading facility. Focus areas for this work were reducing environmental impact and cost reduction. The updated artist rendering represents the results of this work,” said spokesperson, Aaron Stryk, for Imperial Oil Resources Ltd. and ExxonMobil Canada Ltd.
The project would initially export 15 million tonnes per year with the potential to expand to 30 million tonnes. The National Energy Board provided a licence in October 2016 to export up to 40 years after the first export of LNG. The company has submitted its pre-application to the federal and provincial environmental assessments.
But planning for the WCC LNG project is in the early stages, Stryk said in an email. “A final investment decision, which is not anticipated in the near-term, will be based on a range of factors, including regulatory approvals, investment climate and business considerations.”
The timeline has been extended and the company’s pace of fieldwork studies and activities has slowed down. The expected date of construction is 2020 or later.
Grassy Point LNG
The Northern View received a response from the company that stated all updates were available on the website. Following an open house in March 2016 the project seems to be at a standstill.
In 2014, the Australian company, Woodside Energy Ltd., began geotechnical surveys on Grassy Point, near Prince Rupert. The National Energy Board granted a licence to export 20 million tonnes of LNG a year for up to 25 years in 2015. The project is exploring whether it will design an onshore or nearshore facility, and it has already has submitted a pre-application for the environmental assessment process.
NewTimes Energy Ltd.
The company plans to have three floating LNG trains at the facility near Prince Rupert to export 12 million tonnes of natural gas a year. In May 2016, the National Energy Board approved of the project’s export licence for 25 years. The Vancouver-based company has not submitted an application for an environmental assessment.