Woodfibre LNG Terminal
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Woodfibre LNG Terminal is a proposed LNG terminal in British Columbia, Canada.
Contents
Location
Project Details
- Owner:
- Parent: RGE Group (Singapore)
- Location: Squamish, British Columbia, Canada
- Coordinates: 49.701722, -123.15875 (approximate)
- Capacity: 2.1 mtpa, 0.32 bcfd
- Status: Proposed
- Type: Export
- Start Year: 2023
Note: mtpa = million tonnes per year; bcfd = billion cubic feet per day
Background
Woodfibre LNG Terminal is a proposed LNG terminal in British Columbia, Canada.[1]
Woodfibre LNG is proposed for the shores of Howe Sound, southwest of Squamish, BC. The National Energy Board (NEB) granted Woodfibre a 25-year export license for 2.1 million metric tons per year, and in October 2016, the company applied for a 40-year license to export 2.9 million metric tons per year. The LNG plant would obtain its gas supplies from the Eagle Mountain-Woodfibre Gas Pipeline (EGP) Project, a proposed expansion of a 47-kilometer portion of existing FortisBC pipeline. In 2016, Guangzhou Gas Group agreed to buy one million metric tons of the plant’s capacity for 25 years, starting in 2020, but the remaining quantity still lacks a buyer. Last November, Woodfibre LNG’s parent company, Pacific Oil & Gas Limited (which is part of the Singapore-based RGE Group), authorized funds to allow the project to proceed. The project’s finances hinge on subsidized electricity provided by BC Hydro, the provincial utility.[2]
Woodfibre project did not begin construction as of January 2017.[3]
A few years prior to 2017, it appeared that the British Columbia would enter an LNG boom. Twenty-two LNG proposals aimed for the coast were to move fuel from the methane-rich Montney Basin in northeastern BC to Asia. Sightline reports that the provincial government fueled the LNG boom by granting permits, cheap power, and tax breaks. The provincial government promised it would deposit tax revenues from LNG projects in a “prosperity fund” that could reduce other taxes or eliminate debt.[4]
The LNG excitement in BC has waned. Project backers have completely pulled the plug on several proposals. As of summer 2017 only Woodfibre, one of the smaller of the 22 proposed projects, is slated to go forward.[4]
In June of 2019, Woodfibre signed up BP as its first customer, agreeing to buy 0.75 million tonnes per year (mtpa) of LNG for 15 years starting in 2023, when the project is expected to come onstream.[5]
In July of 2019, Woodfibre LNG secured facility approval from the BC Commission.[6]
Opposition
The Council of Canadians announced their opposition to Woodfibre LNG terminal in March of 2015 by making a submission to the B.C. Environment Assessment Office, calling on them to reject the project. The Council of Canadians reported that some members of the Squamish Nation are opposed to the project and its associated pipeline, and concerned resident groups such as My Sea to Sky are mobilizing against the project.[7]
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ Woodfibre LNG Terminal , A Barrel Full, accessed April 2017
- ↑ "Mapping BC's LNG Proposals: Twenty projects stall as provincial government’s liquefied natural gas ‘gold rush’ busts," Sightline Institute, March 2017 (contains further footnotes in text)
- ↑ "2017 World LNG Report" International Gas Union, Accessed June 20, 2017.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Clark Williams-Derry, "Why Has BC’S LNG Industry Stalled?," Sightline, June 28, 2017.
- ↑ Canadian LNG terminal Woodfibre signs up BP as its first customer Reuters, June 27, 2019.
- ↑ Gordon Jaremko,Woodfibre LNG Secures Facility Approval from BC Commission Natural Gas Intel, July 8, 2019
- ↑ "Why the Woodfibre LNG terminal in B.C. must be stopped," The Council of Canadians, 25 March 2015.
