KUALA LUMPUR: The construction of Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s (Petronas) multi-billion-ringgit liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Canada is expected to start this September.
“We are awaiting the final environmental certificate. We are hoping it will come by this fall (September to December). All of the other prerequisites have been dealt with now,” said British Columbia Finance Minister Michael de Jong.
The final puzzle piece that remains for the US$36bil (RM137bil) project is the environmental certificate from Canada’s central government.
“Petronas and their partners are working through that exercise. We are optimistic that in the near future, that work will be completed,” he said yesterday.
The Petronas-led Pacific NorthWest LNG project in north-eastern British Columbia involves the construction of facilities to process and export natural gas to be produced by Progress Energy Canada Ltd.
The group hit a speed bump earlier when one of the First Nation communities rejected an offer of C$1bil (RM2.93bil), in return for supporting the LNG export terminal in northern British Columbia.
The group said the development would harm a fish habitat next to the project site.
“We have made very good progress finding solutions to the specific concerns. Environmental stewardship, sustainability, the salmon habitat, these are things that are very important to Canadians, British Columbians and the First Nation aboriginal people,” De Jong said.
He added that more than 28 First Nations had already signed agreements to participate and receive benefits from the development.
“This is a project that has distinguished itself by bringing aboriginal communities on board,” he said.
The project entails Pacific NorthWest LNG building an LNG facility on Lelu Island, in the District of Port Edward. The first phase of the project would consist of two liquefaction trains, two LNG storage tanks, marine infrastructure with two berths for LNG carriers, a material offloading facility as well as administration and auxiliary buildings.
The facility would liquefy and export natural gas produced by Progress Energy Canada for transport to Lelu Island by the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission project proposed to be built, owned and operated by TransCanada Pipelines Ltd.
The detailed feasibility studies for the project was completed in November 2012.
The minister was on a visit to Malaysia to confirm the passage of British Columbia’s legislation that allowed the ratification of the agreement between Petronas, its international partners and the British Columbia government.
Besides Petronas, Pacific NorthWest LNG is owned by China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (better known as Sinopec) (15%), Japan Petroleum Exploration Co Ltd (10%), Indian Oil Corp Ltd (10%) and Petroleum Brunei (3%), according to the project’s website.
Canada has the second-largest proven reserves of natural gas in the world, De Jong said. “But it has to this point been a resource that has been used exclusively in continental North America. Malaysian technology will be used to help us take that resource and in liquefied form make it available all around the world,” he said.
He added that the project would single-handedly take Canada’s trade relationship with Malaysia and elevate it dramatically in importance.
Last year’s trade between the two countries stood at C$3bil. Out of the Asean countries, De Jong said Malaysia was its fourth-biggest trade partner.
“The advent of this project will immediately elevate Malaysia to number two,” he said.
He believes that the project, especially due to its size, will become a catalyst for the movement of people, goods and investments between the two countries.
“Ten years from now, we will look back at this moment in our joint histories and say that this is the time where prosperity and our bilateral relationship went to the next level,” he said.
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