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More LNG action in British Columbia
Gary Park For Petroleum News
Another piece has been added to the LNG puzzle in British Columbia, while an established piece has started to alter its shape.
Quicksilver Resources Canada has launched Discovery LNG with plans to sidestep the potentially crowded field on the British Columbia mainland coast by eying the construction and operation of gas liquefaction, storage and onloading terminal facilities north of Campbell River on Vancouver Island.
Separately, a subsidiary of United Kingdom gas giant BG Group has raised the possibility of sharing infrastructure such as pipelines in hopes of cutting costs.
The Discovery project would be built and operated by QRCI and an unidentified third party, although the company has yet to disclose the scope or cost of the venture.
Major gas holdings Ed Kallio, the director of gas consulting with Ziff Energy, a division of HSB Solomon Associates, said that although the company is “mute” on the details, including whether it plans an underwater pipeline from the B.C. mainland to Vancouver Island, Quicksilver has major gas holdings in the Horn River basin of northeastern British Columbia.
He said those properties face being left undeveloped unless the company can open up export markets.
The facility would be built on a remediated industrial site formerly used by a paper mill.
Construction of the initial phase is expected to take four years, targeting 2019 for start-up.
Meanwhile, BG Group Chief Operating Officer Martin Houston told a company markets day seminar that discussions are under way with promoters of other western Canada LNG projects on possible cooperation in developing a shared pipeline from gas fields to the Pacific Coast.
He said BG, in the absence of its own gas reserves, is “pursuing several supply options and anticipates supply from owned resources and purchased from the market.”
Houston said there are probably five serious LNG projects in British Columbia of the dozen that have been announced.
BG, which has secured 300 acres on Ridley Island near Prince Rupert for a terminal site, has proposed two trains to export 14 million metric tons of LNG a year, with an option for a third train. The initial startup is aimed at 2020.
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