Delay is Canada’s LNG enemy

Gary Park

for Petroleumn News

The message to Canada’s LNG decisionmakers was blunt: Get on with the job of approving projects or rue the day.

It came in late November from Maria van der Hoeven, former executive director of the International Energy Agency, who told industry leaders in Calgary that Canada’s vast global advantages - massive reserves in British Columbia, proximity to fast growing Asian markets and lower greenhouse gas emissions - will be wasted unless Canada joins the LNG expansion surge sweeping the globe.

“Don’t play the victim,” said the former Dutch politician. “You have a very good reputation and I think in quite a few countries in Asia it will be important, not only where the gas comes from and what the price is, but how it is being produced.”

She said the risk for Canada is getting shut out of global opportunities that are being seized by plays in the Middle East, Australia, Russia and, increasingly, the United States.

In a new report, the IEA said coal to gas switching offers the prospect of “quick wins” for reducing global carbon emissions by 50%.

“If you really want to phase out all of the coal that’s still (being used) in power production that’s a huge window of opportunity where gas can play an increasing role, next to renewable,” said van der Hoeven.

However, she conceded that Canada faces regulatory opposition to pipelines, making it “more difficult to share your energy wealth with the rest of the world.”

Van der Hoeven said there is still time for Canada to move beyond the C$40 billion LNG Canada project led by Shell and the C$1.6 billion Woodfibre LNG project that is on the verge of a final investment decision.

That leaves two other well advanced proposals - the Chevron-Woodside Kitimat LNG venture and Pieridae Energy’s Goldboro LNG facility in Nova Scotia.

Van der Hoeven said environmentalists who have attached the use of natural gas to replace coal because it’s a fossil fuel are being unrealistic if they think the world can wean itself of all fossil fuels in a decade or less.

- GARY PARK