Imperial, Exxon hunt LNG prospect

Imperial Oil and its parent company, ExxonMobil, are pressing ahead with their plans to export LNG from British Columbia, said Imperial Chief Executive Officer Bruce March.

He said the project would be built partly on the foundations of its C$3.1 billion acquisition of natural gas producer Celtic Exploration, along with the gas holdings the related companies hold in the Horn River shale play in British Columbia and other assets across Western Canada.

March told an investment conference that the partnership is “anxious to scale up the operations” assembled by Celtic by accelerating development of the resources.

“We are in the very early stages of looking at LNG off the British Columbia coast and Celtic reserves would be the underpinning of a potential LNG strategy,” he said.

But March said the two companies are still looking carefully at the prospects, while facing competition from a growing number of global players that have picked the British Columbia coast to build integrated operations that involve the production, shipment and liquefaction of gas.

However, he noted that ExxonMobil is a big player in the global LNG business and is well-acquainted with the prospective customers.

—Gary Park