Petronas makes plans to take on more minority partners on proposed LNG project in Prince Rupert

The development of LNG terminal projects on the North Coast is becoming more and more of a global effort, as Petronas, the Malaysian energy giant with plans for an LNG export terminal on Lelu Island continues to look to Asia for more partners.

As we outlined on the blog on February 13th, Petronas has been discussing potential investment options with Indian Oil, with the potential that the Indian energy player may take on a 10 per cent interest in the project.

In today's Globe and Mail, the expanding nature of those discussions is reviewed, with Petronas also investigating the possibility of a Chinese investor, which could take a fifteen percent share in the project.

As the Globe outlines in their story, that could bring a total of four partners on board with Petronas by March, making for an investment to a total of 38 per cent of the proposed development.

You can review the full Globe article here.

And while Petronas continues to build industrial alliances for its project, the Globe outlines that the Malaysian company still intends to hold majority interest in the project.

However, there may still be room for other investors to claim the remaining 11.9 percent of the minority interest in the development plans.

Next up on the agenda for Pacific Northwest LNG, was the filing of environmental impact statements with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and with the B. C. Environmental Assessment Office.

That procedural effort took place today, with Pacific Northwest outlining the path forward with a media release.

The next stage of the project, which will see more Open Houses held in both Prince Rupert and Port Edward as part of the consultation process.

On Monday night, Mayor Jack Mussallem provided a thumbnail sketch for City Council, on the latest news from Pacific Northwest LNG. Outlining the projected employment numbers that the project could bring to the region, once the final decision to go ahead with the development is made.

With a timeline of construction of 48 to 52 months, the number of construction jobs generated by the Pacific Northwest project would be some 4,000 people from start to finish.

Upon completion of the project , the Mayor quoted numbers that suggest there will be direct employment for 330 people from the export terminal, while the number of indirect jobs related to the development is projected to be around 300.

You can review more of our items of note on the LNG industry in the Northwest from our LNG Archive page.