Friday, September 30, 2016

Reports suggest that Petronas is pondering sale of stake in Pacific NorthWest project

Days after receiving approval from the Federal Government for the Pacific NorthWest LNG project, reports out of Malaysia are suggesting that the global energy giant Petronas is giving some thought to selling its majority share in the proposed multi billion dollar terminal project.

Reuters posted an article to its international website today that outlines the scope of the discussion that is taking place inside the Petronas board room these days as the company weighs such issues as global gas prices, costs and financial returns with its global ambitions.

The Pacific NorthWest LNG project is one of the largest foreign investments that the state owned Malaysian company has embarked on in recent years.

According to the Reuters report, the company has been considering selling its share of the project for months, though they apparently have a fall back plan should they not receive sufficient interest in their sale proposal.

In the Reuters report, its suggested that the company is considering plans to put the project "on ice" for the time being, with hopes of seeing gas prices turn around to provide more financial certainty for the development.

Reuters also notes that Petronas is offering no public comment on the potential sale or deferral of the project at this time.

Other investors in the proposed development are from China, India, Japan and Brunei.

You can review the Reuters article here.

In August, Petronas had noted that it would further review its Canadian plans once the Federal Government had delivered its decision on the fate of the North Coast project, a short statement from the company on Wednesday reinforced those plans.

Canadian and other news providers picked up on the Reuters theme today as well, providing more background on the latest twist to the long running Petronas story.

Petronas weighs sale to exit $27-billion B.C. LNG project: sources
Petronas faces US$27 billion question after Ottawa approves LNG project
Petronas can still thrive with PNW LNG approval despite potential sell of stakes: FSL for LNG founder
Report: Petronas considering sale of PNWLNG stake

Our overview of the Pacific NorthWest LNG project can be found on this archive page which has been following the progress and news developments for the project since it was first announced.

Update: As the day moved forward, the British Columbia Government responded to the early  morning reports out of Asia, with BC media outlets reporting that the Provincial Government had spoken with Petronas and was reassured about the status of the Pacific NorthWest LNG project.

Adding that they anticipate a statement from Petronas to provide their view on the Reuters story of the overnight period.

As of late Friday afternoon however, no updates have been posted to the Malaysian energy giant's website.

October 1 -- Petronas denies report it is considering sale of Canadian LNG project stake
September 30 -- Petronas denies report it wants to bail from LNG project
September 30 -- Petronas is not considering sale of proposed LNG terminal, B. C. government says


No comments:

Post a Comment