India’s H-Energy unveils Canadian LNG

One of India’s largest privately held corporations has disclosed more details of its plan to export LNG from the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.

Just days after reaching an agreement with the Nova Scotia government, H-Energy rolled out the details of a C$3 billion LNG liquefaction plant and export terminal on the Atlantic Coast including three trains, each with a nameplate capacity of 4.5 million metric tons a year.

The initial facility would require 1.5 billion cubic feet per day of feedstock gas, with the Marcellus play in the northeastern United States seen as a prime source, although sources in Atlantic Canada are also under consideration.

H-Energy is part of Mumbai-based Hiranandani Group, which is building an 8 million metric tons per year regasification port in India to help meet the country’s existing demand which is rising to about 12 million metric tons a year.

Currently gas in India is valued at US$15-US$20 per million British thermal units, compared with US$3-US$4 in North America.

H-Energy said LNG from Canada could be shipped to Latin America and Europe as well as India.

Darshan Niranandani, managing director of H-Energy, said construction could start in 2016, with operations to start in 2020.

He said the Nova Scotia facility would be similar in size to the C$5 billion LNG plant and expert terminal that Calgary-based Pieridae Energy is planning to build at Goldboro, Nova Scotia.

Stephen Lund, chief executive officer of Nova Scotia Business Inc., a government agency that tries to attract companies to the province, said there is a global demand for North American gas.

“Facilities will be built in North America. I don’t think anyone would dispute that. The question is where they are going to be? Why not Nova Scotia?” he said.

H-Energy said it considered locations in Quebec, New Brunswick and British Columbia before opting for Nova Scotia because of the province’s deepwater ports and a pipeline that delivers 440 million cubic feet per day of gas from the offshore Sable field.

—Gary Park