Japanese investors eye LNG potential of the North Coast

When the province announced that there was significant interest in the prospect of developing LNG export facilities at Grassy Point, the names of some of the potential investors read like a who's who of international oil and gas development.

It would appear that among those interested in British Columbia's Natural gas reserves and the infrastructure to ship them to Asia are a group of Japanese companies that have expressed much interest in the prospect of future development.

An article from the trade publication Petroleum News outlines the scope of the Japanese interest, highlighting the fact that Japan is looking to accelerate the prospect of importing Canadian natural gas. With the main thrust of their interest apparently to replace some of the nuclear power generating infrastructure, a major source of their energy requirements that have been lost in the wake of the massive 2011 earthquake there.

Japan also is more interested in Canada over any potential American investment  for a variety of reasons.

The main ones being that of location in proximity to Asia,  the stable nature of the supply of gas that would be available and a the impression that dealing with Canadian officials offers up less red tape and concern than with those in the USA.

The remainder of their talking points on the topic, could very well come from recent BC Liberal proclamations on the theme, as the Japanese are stressing the need to move quickly and secure business relationships, something that is apparently key to the would be Japanese investors.

You can review the full article here.

Our archive of LNG related items offers up more background on the proposed developments both on the North Coast and in Kitimat.