Petronas LNG pullout threat just a negotiating tactic: Premier
Posted September 25, 2014 12:22 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Major energy company Petronas has suggested it could pull out of a $10-billion LNG project near Prince Rupert, but Premier Christy Clark doesn’t seem too bothered by the comments and what they could potentially mean for her LNG dreams in this province.
She says there are plenty of suitors for BC LNG, and listed them off.
“Well, there are about 15 companies in the hunt for BC LNG resources in British Columbia,” says Clark. “So we have many, many, many investments looking at British Columbia, some of which are well advanced.”
Clark’s government is depending heavily on LNG to provide future revenue, suggesting that industry could pump $100-billion into this province’s economy.
She suggests the remarks from Petronas’ are a negotiating tactic from a company hoping to sweeten any deal it finalizes with the province.
“A lot of the discussion you see publicly is part of what you’ll always see in the course of any difficult negotiation,” Clark says. “But I know they see the assets in British Columbia as incredibly valuable.”
According to University of Calgary professor Michael Moore, inconsistency when it comes to the regulatory process and a lack of incentives are reasonable concerns for Petronas’ to have.
“What they’re after in the end is clarity and consistency, and the process, whether it’s inter-provincial or provincial and federal, is anything but consistent,” says Moore.
Moore has previously written a report bringing into question BC’s ability to bring in $100-billion in LNG revenue as Clark’s government has projected.
