Another foreign oil and gas firm buys into B.C. LNG sector
by Canadian Manufacturing Staff
China's Sinopec Ltd. buying 15 per cent interest in LNG export partnership in province
CALGARY—Another major foreign oil and gas firm is buying into British Columbia’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry.
Progress Energy Canada Ltd. announced state-owned China Petrochemical Corp., or Sinopec Ltd., is buying a 15 per cent interest in its LNG export partnership in the province.
As part of the deal, Sinopec will offtake 1.8 million tonnes of LNG annually, or 15 per cent of the production from the proposed Pacific NorthWest LNG export facility for at least 20 years.
The deal with Sinopec comes less than two months after state-owned Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. joined the partnership to ship LNG to lucrative Asian markets.
Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd. (JAPEX) also owns a 10 per cent stake in the partnership.
“We are pleased to conclude the addition of another Pacific Rim market and investment into British Columbia which continues to highlight the attractiveness of Canadian natural gas,” Progress president and CEO Michael Culbert said in a statement.
Progress, a subsidiary of Malaysian state-owned oil and gas giant Petronas, said the project is working its way through the regulatory process, with reviews currently underway by both the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) and B.C. Environmental Assessment Office (EAO).
The project received an export licence from the National Energy Board (NEB) in December 2013.
Stakeholders hope to begin exporting gas from the facility in late 2018.
