Province refutes report Petronas considering Pacific Northwest LNG sale
Posted September 30, 2016 2:23 pm.
Last Updated September 30, 2016 3:36 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Petronas has told the province it has no plans to sell its stake in the Pacific Northwest LNG project.
This follows a report from Reuters indicating the Malaysian energy company is looking to get out of the $36-billion proposal.
Petronas has reassured the province the report isn’t true, according to the ministry of natural gas, responding to our questions after the release of this report citing three anonymous sources.
Regardless of the veracity of the report, economist Michal Moore with the University of Calgary, who specializes in energy issues, says given current market conditions, the LNG project isn’t very attractive.
“There’s a likelihood that the natural gas market is going to increase over time, although there’s a short term blip coming, as Japan begins to bring back a lot of its nuclear capacity and starts to scale down its natural gas demand,” says Moore. “I would say it’s down in the lower attraction rate for projects right now.”
Earlier this week, the feds said the project could go ahead if it adheres to 190 conditions.
The facility is designed to ship 19-million tonnes a year of liquefied gas over the next quarter century, though low commodity prices have delayed forward movement on the project.
The provincial government says it expected Petronas to issue a statement.
NEWS1130’s Martin MacMahon has all the details on the possible sale according to a report from Reuters:
