Canada's First LNG Export Terminal Seen as One-off
Woodfibre LNG, Canada's first liquefied natural gas export project, will be a "nice-to-have" fillip for the country's gas producers but does not signal the start of a west coast LNG boom, industry watchers said on Monday. Privately held Woodfibre LNG Ltd said on Friday it will start building its C$1.6 billion ($1.2 billion) project in Squamish, British Columbia, next year after its Singaporean parent company authorized the funds last week. It is the first of more than a dozen LNG projects proposed for British Columbia to get the final go-ahead, but analysts say Woodfibre is unlikely to herald an investment surge from other developers given the challenging economics of an oversupplied LNG market.
Scale of BC's LNG Terminal Plans Questioned
The British Columbia government has staked its future on natural gas exports, banking on a revenue windfall of at least $100-billion. Yet growing market pessimism and a sudden broadside from large gas consumers is casting fresh doubt on the planned scale of the emerging liquefied natural gas industry, reports the 'Financial Post'. The Pacific Northwest LNG project, located on Lelu Island in the Port Edward district, will liquefy and export natural gas produced in northeastern British Columbia by Progress Energy Canada.
Husky Energy Agrees To Acquire Marathon Canada
Husky Energy, through a wholly owned subsidiary, has agreed to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Marathon Canada Limited and the Western Canadian assets of Marathon International Petroleum Canada, Ltd. The total purchase price is $588 million (U.S.). Production from Marathon Canada is approximately 27,000 gross barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d). The effective date of the transaction is October 1, 2003. In a separate transaction, Husky has agreed to sell certain of the Marathon Canada oil and gas properties with gross production of approximately 7,500 boe/d to a third party for a sale price of $320 million (U.S.). The assets to be retained by Husky are properties located primarily in northern and southern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia.
