ExxonMobil and its Canadian subsidiary Imperial Oil have entered the regulatory phase of their plan for the West Coast Canada LNG project that is designed to eventually ship 30 million metric tons a year from an export terminal at Prince Rupert on the northern British Columbia coast.
In a 141-page submission filed with the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office Jan. 8, the joint venture was described as a natural fit between the gas resources of British Columbia and Alberta with the global LNG trade.
Operator ExxonMobil noted that it has more than 40 years of LNG project development experience, with interests in liquefaction capacity of about 65 million metric tons a year in Qatar, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
WCC LNG hopes to receive a provincial environmental assessment certificate by the end of 2016, clearing the way for a final investment decision in 2017 to construct an expert terminal.
WCC LNG said it expects to hire a construction workforce of up to 6,000 over a seven year period to start operations at 15 million metric tons a year.
Once operational, the project would provide 250 plant workers, while another 150 would be needed for support services.
C$15-C$25 billion
The capital cost for the first phase could range from C$15 billion to C$25 billion, depending on whether the partnership opts to use a barge-based marine facility or an onshore terminal.
At full build-out capacity, the project would use LNG vessels with capacity of 125,000-266,000 cubic meters each and 330 to 430 carrier loadings a year.
A barge-based LNG facility would include up to five floating barges with production capacity of about 6 million metric tons a year each or higher.
An onshore facility would “maintain similar production levels and the same ultimate capacity as the barge-mounted concept.”
For now, the application said development options are being evaluated as geotechnical and environmental data is being gathered.
The Tuck Inlet site currently favored is in a cooler climate than many foreign LNG plants, making it cheaper and more efficient to liquefy the gas.
“British Columbia’s advantages for participating in the global trade of LNG include low ambient temperatures on the north coast, proximity to international markets where natural gas is in high demand and extensive gas resources from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin to support the export industry,” WCC LNG said in its study. “Asian and global LNG markets offer a new long-term opportunity for Canadian gas.”
The proponent says it is consulting with five First Nations on a variety of topics, including the impact on aboriginal and recreational fishing.
Would cooperate on pipeline
The filing said WCC LNG will not build its own pipeline to deliver gas feedstock from northeastern British Columbia and western Alberta, but will seek “industry-sharing synergies” with a pipeline company by cooperating with one of two proposals for pipelines to the Prince Rupert area.
Spectra Energy is working on a C$7.5 billion Westcoast Connector Gas Transmission project to serve the Prince Rupert LNG project proposed by the United Kingdom’s BG Group, which has stalled progress while it weighs the outlook for LNG from British Columbia.
TransCanada has announced plans for the C$5 billion Prince Rupert Gas Transmission line to serve the Petronas-led Pacific NorthWest LNG terminal, which is also in a holding pattern.
So far none of the proposals to export LNG from British Columbia has received corporate sanctioning.
