Two Prince Rupert area LNG projects receive NEB approval with export licences

Another check mark on the LNG project check list has been ticked off, as both the BG Group's Prince Rupert LNG Export project and the Petronas led Pacific Northwest LNG project have both been given the Green Light for their applications to export liquefied Natural Gas.

The National Energy Board provided its approval on Monday,  the two Prince Rupert projects among the four that received the NEB approval.

The other two consisted of a proposal by Exxon/Mobil which is expected to be based in either Prince Rupert or Kitimat and one other project proposed for the Squamish area.

The NEB based its decision after considering the applications and coming to the conclusion that the gas resource base in Canada is large enough to accommodate the foreseeable Canadian demand and that the gas to be exported, would in effect it seems be surplus to Canadian needs.

The four export permits are for 25 years each, the decision of Monday brings the total number of export permits granted by the NEB to seven over the last year or so.

All of the other three applications were for project developments in the Kitimat region.

You can review more of the NEB decision here.

The Federal Government still has to provide its final approval to the successful applicants of today, Joe Oliver, the Minister of Natural Resources said that approval would only be granted after a scientific and regulatory review, he provided the Governments view on today's developments through this media release.

For the most part, for most observers of the energy industry in Canada, that approval process is not something that anyone expects to deliver any surprises on.

In fact, the NEB approval of today was considered a major success for the four proponents and one that clears one more key obstacle along the way towards LNG development in British Columbia.

The Provincial Government was quick to herald the developments of today, with Rich Coleman the Deputy Premier and Minister of Natural Gas Development, stating that the province was "looking forward to a timely decision from the federal government so that we can ensure these companies are positioned to make final investment decisions as quickly as possible."

The full account of today's decision from the point of view of the BC Government can be found here.

Pacific Northwest LNG was the first of the two Prince Rupert based projects to acknowledge today's developments.

Some background on today's developments can be found below:

Vancouver Sun-- NEB grants four, 25 year licences to export LNG from the West Coast
Globe and Mail-- NEB approves four more LNG export licences in B. C., but await Ottawa's blessing
Engergetic city.ca--  Four More LNG export licences approved
Wall Street Journal-- Canada Regulators approve Export Permits for LNG proposals