Petronas BC minister "more optimistic" on Petronas's RM107bil Canada LNG project Friday, 17 April 2015
KUALA LUMPUR: British Columbia (BC) Natural Gas Development Minister Rich Coleman is optimistic about Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s (Petronas) C$36bil (RM107.3bil) Pacific NorthWest LNG project in Canada but expects any final investment decision (FID) to be delayed by a lengthy federal environmental review, the Toronto-based Globe and Mail reported Thursday.
Coleman, who recently met new president and CEO of Petronas Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin in Malaysia, said in an interview from Victoria: “I came out of Malaysia as optimistic, if not more optimistic, than I’ve ever been.”
Petronas, on its part, has also delayed its FID a few times.
The national oil company was supposed to make its FID by end of last year but it and its partners had decided to defer the decision due to the fall in crude oil prices.
Petronas upstream international vice-president Sharbini Suhaili told reporters in December last year that the corporation would make the FID in the first quarter of 2015.
In February, outgoing president Tan Sri Shamsul Azhar Abbas announced the postponement of the FID to June because the Environmental Impact Assessment report would only be out in April.
Shamsul had met Coleman late last year, just weeks after Petronas warned it might shelve the project by up to 15 years if the BC government’s tax incentives were not acceptable. After the meeting, Petronas said in a statement that it decided to defer the project due to the tumbling oil prices, but said the project would still go ahead.
Wan Zulkiflee took over the helm of Petronas from Shamsul on April 1.
The Globe and Mail said the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) launched its review of the Petronas-led Pacific NorthWest LNG joint venture in 2013.
“Since then, there have been delays as a result of the regulator seeking more information related to the project’s impact on salmon habitat at Flora Bank. Pacific NorthWest LNG is proposing to build an LNG export terminal on Lelu Island, located near Prince Rupert.
“The latest delay stems from Pacific NorthWest LNG taking time to prepare 3-D modelling. That modelling is designed to predict changes that might occur to the environment after the construction of the export terminal, with an emphasis on the impact to Flora Bank,” the newspaper said on Thursday.