Petronas to review investment plans on Pacific NorthWest LNG following delivery of CEAA report

Pacific NorthWest LNG's parent
company Petronas will review the fate
of the proposed LNG development
following the conclusion of the CEAA
assessment process and Federal decision.

Officials with the Malaysia energy company Petronas finally provided comment to the latest rumours swirling around the proposed Pacific NorthWest LNG project, outlining in a media release of Thursday that they will consider the fate of the project further once the federal environmental process has been delivered.

As we've noted on the blog over the last three weeks, reports have started to percolate that suggest a delay may be in the works for the ambitious plan to create LNG infrastructure on the North Coast, the most recent report that of a Wall Street Journal story from Tuesday which we outlined here.

The current economic climate in the oil and gas industry and current supply and demand concerns from Asia have put a number of the proposed BC LNG projects on the sidelines in recent months, while many others are still in the very early investigative stage.

The Globe and Mail provided an expansive look at the latest twist in the LNG story in Northwestern BC through a story yesterday, noting the tone of the media statement out of Kuala Lumpur, which offered up two key areas of interest for those on the North Coast looking for some form of indication where the project stands.

As the Globe reports:

"Upon the finalization of the report, we (Petronas) will need to conduct a total review of the proposed project prior to tabling it to the project's partners for a final investment decision."

Petronas the principle investor in the project at 62 percent, has put together a list of co-investors from Japan, China, India and Brunei to fill out the remainder of the investment pool required to move the project forward.

The media statement obtained by the Globe and Mail also notes:

 "Petronas reiterates that a project of this magnitude requires coherent support from the various relevant stakeholders to work within a reasonable time frame for successful implementation"

The full Globe and Mail story which explores a number of themes related to the Petronas project can be examined here.

The CEAA report is expected to be delivered to the Federal cabinet by October, with the Liberal government expected to announce its decision on the fate of the 11 billion dollar terminal project following that report.

The Petronas media statement has not to this point been posted to the either the Pacific Northwest LNG website or Facebook page, or to the Malaysian energy company's international portal.

More items related to the Pacific NorthWest LNG project proposed Lelu Island development can be found from our archive page here.

A full overview of the range of proposed LNG projects for the Northwest can be found from our LNG Archive.