Following a trip to Asia, B.C.’s minister for natural resource development Rich Coleman commented, “The buzz was that we are moving in the right direction and that people think that we are going to get there.”
In an interview with the Financial Post, Coleman once again re-affirmed that the government plans to release fiscal terms for its LNG projects this month. Coleman spent 12 days in Asia meeting with decision makers at Malaysia’s Petronas,
Chinas CNOOC Ltd. (
NYSE: CEO,
Stock Forum),
PetroChina Co. Ltd. (
NYSE: PTR,
Stock Forum),
Sinopec Group (
NYSE: SHI,
Stock Forum) and Korea’s Kogas.
Coleman commented, “The final formula is being fine-tuned and will likely involve a generic provincial tax based on a percentage of revenue or profit to protect LNG owners from commodity price fluctuations, while ensuring the province benefits from the sale of its resource.”
Coleman also noted, “The model has been well-received and will keep British Columbia competitive with other LNG-producing jurisdictions.”
In addition to LNG taxes, B.C. would cash in from increased royalties from natural gas production and increased business and income taxes.
B.C. plans to funnel some of the resource windfall into a Prosperity Fund, similar in concept to Alberta’s Heritage Fund. Finally, Coleman noted, “We are being very open with these discussions with organizations,’’ he said.
“They are all bound by confidentiality agreements, but our feedback has been very, very good. My goal is that we are going to be globally competitive, and their assessment was that B.C. will be globally competitive.”