Page 7 - GLNG Week 09 2021

GLNG AMERICAS GLNG

Jordan Cove LNG project in doubt

PROJECTS & THE future of Pembina Pipeline’s proposed Jor- Last week, Pembina said it had taken a
COMPANIES dan Cove LNG export terminal in Oregon looks CAD1.6bn ($1.3bn) write-down on investments
increasingly in doubt, with the company taking a in the CKPC petrochemical joint venture, the
write-down on its investment in the project. Ruby pipeline and the Jordan Cove project.
Calgary-based Pembina now says it can no “We believe these opportunities remain in
longer predict when the facility may be built, strategy, make economic sense when de-risked,
and is evaluating the path forward for the project. and are aligned with Pembina’s ESG [envi-
The news marks the latest setback for Jordan ronmental, social and governance] priorities,”
Cove, which Pembina acquired via its takeover of Pembina stated. “We believe the time for these
Veresen in 2017. Both Veresen and Pembina have projects may come; however, we can sadly no
struggled with obtaining regulatory approvals longer predict with certainty when that time
for the project. In 2016, the US Federal Energy will be and hence were compelled to reflect their
Regulatory Commission (FERC) rejected Ver- impairments in our 2020 financial statements
esen’s application to build the terminal and the through a non-cash charge.”
gas pipeline that would serve it. This latest development for Jordan Cove
The FERC subsequently approved a revised comes just as the idea of LNG exports from
application for Jordan Cove in 2020, but other North America’s Pacific Coast is gaining traction.
regulatory battles continued, with state regula- One LNG export terminal is under construction
tors in Oregon denying several permits that are in Mexico, with two more proposed, and the
necessary for the project to proceed. In what was LNG Canada mega-project is being built in Brit-
described as a potentially fatal blow to the pro- ish Columbia. Bottlenecks in the Panama Canal
ject, in February 2021, federal authorities upheld over the winter may have bolstered the case for
the State of Oregon’s finding that the project was exporting LNG from the Pacific Coast as well.
not consistent with its coastal zone management However, in Jordan Cove’s case, local oppo-
plans. Pembina had appealed against the state’s sition and regulatory obstacles look more likely
finding to the US Department of Commerce. than ever to kill off the project.™

EUROPE

Lithuania looks forward to supplying

LNG to Poland in 2022

PIPELINES & LITHUANIA’S energy company Ignitis Group
TRANSPORT announced on March 2 it will commence sup-
plying LNG to neighbouring Poland next year
after a new pipeline between the two countries
is completed.
The gas connection, GIPL, between the two
countries is due by December 2021 and will
also give Lithuania, Finland, Estonia and Latvia
access to pipeline gas from continental Europe.
The region currently imports pipeline gas
from Russia and LNG via an import terminal at 66% by 2023, as the country prepares to cease
Lithuania’s Klaipeda port. imports of Russian pipeline gas in 2022.
Lithuania’s energy minister has previously Russia’s Gazprom lost a third of its share of
said that the new pipeline would also be used the Finnish gas market last year, after a new
to supply LNG from Klaipeda to a planned pipeline made it possible to import LNG via the
gas-fired power station to be built in northeast Baltic countries.
Poland. Finland imported a total 5.8 TWh of gas from
The Klaipeda terminal imported 21.9 TWh of the Baltic countries in 2020, including 3.05 TWh
LNG in 2020, Ignitis said in its annual report, or from Ignitis, the group said.
half of its annual capacity of 39 TWh. Meanwhile, Russia’s direct gas exports to
Poland’s LNG import terminal in Swinoujscie Finland dropped by 35% last year to 15.7 TWh,
imported 39.9 TWh, Ignitis said. In 2020, Poland from 24 TWh in 2019, Gazprom’s quarterly data,
signed deals to expand the terminal’s capacity by published on its website, showed.™

Week 09 05•March•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P7