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Ottawa offers financial support to LNG Canada
CANADA
THE Canadian government has said it will pro- vide CAD275mn ($209mn) in federal funding towards the Royal Dutch Shell-led LNG Can- ada project, which is being built on the British Columbia coast. e contribution will include CAD220mn ($167mn) that will be used to buy energy-e cient gas turbines to power the pro- ject’s liquefaction plant. Additionally, CAD55mn ($42mn) will go towards replacing an ageing highway bridge in Kitimat, where the termi- nal will be located, as an increase in tra c is anticipated.
e nancial support is being touted as an investment in “cleaner technology” as Canada attempts to monetise its abundant natural gas resources and send them to new markets.
A federal government news release noted that the CAD40bn ($30bn) LNG Canada scheme represents the “largest private sector investment in Canadian history”.
Announcing the government’s contribu- tion in Kitimat on June 24, Canadian Minister of Finance Bill Morneau said the project would diversify the country’s trade, grow its economy and create jobs.
However, not everyone is as supportive of the development, which comes as environ- mental issues are increasingly being treated as a priority in Canada. Earlier in June, the House
of Commons – the lower house of Canada’s Parliament – declared a national climate emer- gency in the country. And BC Green Party leader Andrew Weaver was among those quick to crit- icise Ottawa for supporting oil and gas projects including LNG Canada against the backdrop of the House of Commons motion – which is non-binding.
“You wonder why Canadians are cynical about the way this government is dealing with the climate crisis,” Weaver said.
However, the LNG industry and Ottawa con- tend that natural gas is more environmentally friendly and less carbon-intensive than other fossil fuels, and that its development and export should therefore be supported.
“LNG Canada’s facility will help bring a cleaner Canadian energy source to replace coal in some of the world’s fastest-growing economies,” said Canadian Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains.
And LNG Canada’s CEO, Andy Calitz, has said the government funding would help the company to develop “the lowest carbon content LNG for export in the world today”. Nonetheless, the project is still anticipated to become BC’s sin- gle largest source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emis- sions, as well as one of the biggest in the country as a whole.
Pieridae to buy Alberta assets from Shell
CANADA
CANADA’S Pieridae Energy has struck a deal to buy oil and gas assets in Alberta from Royal Dutch Shell for CAD190mn ($145mn). Pieridae said the move will help it to secure the remaining supply it requires for the rst phase of its planned LNG export terminal in Eastern Canada.
e deal includes all of Shell’s upstream and midstream assets in the southern Alberta Foot- hills area, which produce 28,623 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Output consists of roughly 119 million cubic feet (3.4 million cubic metres) per day of gas, 5,646 barrels per day of natural gas liquids (NGLs) and 3,161 bpd of light oil and condensate.
Also included in the deal are three deep cut, sour gas processing plants – Jumping Pound, Caroline and Waterton – with a combined capacity of around 750mn cf/d (21mn cm/d), a 14% working interest in the Shantz sulphur forming plant and roughly 1,700km of pipelines.
“Not only does this deal help us secure the remaining conventional natural gas supply needed for the rst train of the Goldboro LNG project, it makes Pieridae a major player in the Alberta midstream and upstream industry,” said Pieridae’s CEO, Alfred Sorensen.
If Pieridae’s 10 million tonne per year (tpy)
Goldboro LNG project in Nova Scotia goes ahead, it would be Canada’s rst East Coast LNG export scheme. e company said it has received all major regulatory, environmental, import/ export and construction permits for Goldboro LNG. Pieridae said it is continuing to work with KBR to review an amended version of the pre- viously prepared front-end engineering design (FEED) study for the project, and to conduct an open-book estimate necessary to nalise a lump- sum, turnkey (LSTK) engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with the engi- neering rm.
Pieridae has also signed a 20-year agreement with German utility Uniper for the full capacity of Goldboro LNG’s rst train, as well as half of the total project. It is in the process of negotiating arrangements to use existing pipelines to trans- port feedstock gas from Western Canada to the facility.
Shell, meanwhile, is focused on developing Canada’s rst major LNG export terminal, LNG Canada, in British Columbia. e decision to go ahead with the CAD40bn ($30bn) venture has resulted in Shell scaling back operations else- where in the country. But such assets remain attractive to smaller players such as Pieridae.
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