Page 13 - NorthAmOil Week 17 2021

NorthAmOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES NorthAmOil

Pembina pauses Jordan Cove development

OREGON CANADA’S Pembina has put the development denied a request from Pembina to waive Ore-
of its proposed Jordan Cove LNG export project gon’s water quality review for Jordan Cove, and
in Oregon, on the US’ West Coast, and an asso- in February the US Department of Commerce
ciated natural gas pipeline on pause. sustained Oregon’s objection under the Coastal
In an appeals court filing last week, the com- Zone Management Act.
pany said it was assessing “the impact of recent Pembina had been seeking to emphasise Jor-
regulatory decisions involving denial of permits dan Cove’s advantageous location on the Pacific
or authorisations necessary for the project to Coast. It is closer to growing Asian markets and
move forward”. would have allowed cargoes to be shipped to Asia
The Jordan Cove project received approval to directly without having to transit the Panama
proceed with construction from the US Federal Canal the way LNG shipments from the US Gulf
Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last Coast do.
year, but has failed to acquire necessary water Indeed, congestion in the Panama Canal over
permits from Oregon. the winter led to severe delays for cargoes pass-
Pembina’s filing came in a case where various ing through the waterway. While this may have
opponents are challenging the FERC authori- bolstered the case for shipping LNG along other
sation for the project. The decision comes as no routes, including elsewhere on the Pacific Coast,
great surprise, given that the company already this was not enough to overcome strong state-level
said in February that it could no longer predict and local opposition to Jordan Cove in Oregon.
when Jordan Cove might be built, and was evalu- Jordan Cove was designed to produce around
ating a path forward, having previously targeted 7.5mn tonnes per year (tpy) of LNG. While Pem-
a start-up date of 2025. bina’s announcement does not amount to an
That move came in response to recent legal outright cancellation, this outcome now seems
setbacks for the project. In January, the FERC increasingly likely.™

ENERGY TRANSITION

Chevron, Toyota partner on large-

scale hydrogen development

US NORTH American subsidiaries of super-major time. Energy companies have also called on
Chevron and automotive manufacturer Toyota governments to support their initiatives with
are pursuing an alliance on large-scale hydro- favourable policies and tax incentives.
gen development. Last week, Chevron USA’s Chevron and Toyota said they were seeking
Chevron Products division and Toyota Motor to work on three main strategic priorities. The
North America announced that they had signed first is collaborating on public policy measures
a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to that support the development of hydrogen infra-
explore such a partnership. structure. The second is understanding current
The alliance is intended to “catalyse and lead and future market demand for light-duty and
the development of commercially viable, large- heavy-duty fuel cell electric vehicles (EVs), as
scale businesses in hydrogen, with the goal to well as supply opportunities for meeting that
advance a functional, thriving global hydrogen demand. The third is exploring opportunities
economy”, the companies stated. to jointly pursue research and development in
The MoU comes as Chevron – alongside hydrogen-powered transportation and storage.
other super-majors on both sides of the Atlantic Toyota has been researching and develop-
– is increasingly participating in ventures aimed ing fuel cell technology for nearly 25 years, and
at advancing the energy transition. Indeed, manufactured its first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle
hydrogen is widely considered to be a key com- in 2014. The company unveiled its second-gen-
ponent of the transition. eration hydrogen car in December 2020, and
Scepticism remains over the commercial via- has said that it expects fuel cell EVs powered by
bility of cleaner types of hydrogen, such as that hydrogen to be as common as hybrid gas-electric
produced using renewables, or from natural gas vehicles one day.
with a carbon capture and storage (CCS) com- Chevron, for its part, installed several hydro-
ponent, however. But the growing participation gen fuel stations along California’s hydrogen
of large companies in hydrogen development highway over a decade ago, though few of these
is anticipated to help bring down its costs over have been built to date.™

Week 17 29•April•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P13