Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional (Petronas) may be looking at building a $27 billion liquefied natural gas export terminal in northwestern Canada on the site of an abandoned Royal Dutch Shell energy project, the company’s chief executive officer has revealed.
While Petronas has yet to make a financial decision to move forward with its Pacific Northwest LNG project in British Columbia, Shell’s Ridley Island site “could be one of the options” for a location for the complex, CEO Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said in an interview with Bloomberg in Kuala Lumpur last week.
The Pacific Northwest LNG project won Canadian government approval in September following more than three years of regulatory reviews and strident opposition from environmentalists, scientists and indigenous communities.
At the same time, the project faces economic headwinds with 18 gas export proposals in the province stalled by a global glut and plunging prices.
If built, Petronas’s terminal would be the largest private investment in British Columbia’s history and would be a jobs bonanza for industry workers. The sheer size of the project has turned it into a campaign issue ahead of a provincial poll in May.
BC Premier Christy Clark has faced criticism for promises of LNG prosperity that have failed to materialize.
image: LNG News
