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LNG Project Would Affect ‘Grand Central Station’ for Salmon, Researchers Say
LNG Project Would Affect ‘Grand Central Station’ for Salmon, Researchers Say
Science letter asks gov, industry to acknowledge ‘full impacts’ of BC project.
The proposed Pacific Northwest LNG project and related pipelines located at the mouth of the Skeena River in northern British Columbia would affect more than 40 different salmon populations harvested in at least 10 First Nation territories, according to a letter published in Science.
That is twice the number of First Nations groups that industry proponents identified as needing to be consulted about the impacts of the project, add the researchers who signed the letter.
Pacific Northwest LNG is an international consortium led by Malaysia oil giant Petronas. If approved by an ongoing federal environment assessment, its $11-billion liquefied natural gas terminal would be built on Lelu Island near Prince Rupert.
The waters surrounding the proposed project are critical for the rearing of millions of wild B.C. salmon — an estuary that Allen Gottesfeld of the Skeena Fisheries Commission calls “the Grand Central Station for salmon.”
The letter, penned by fisheries biologists, First Nations leaders from throughout the Skeena River watershed, and Simon Fraser University professor Jonathan Moore, cites research that shows “industrialized estuaries depress salmon survival.”
Moore, an aquatic ecologist, explained that the purpose of the letter was to get the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) to properly consider the new data on the importance of the estuary for one of the world’s great salmon watersheds.
“This little local spot supports all of these fish from all around,” said Moore. As a consequence, he said, the LNG terminal could “affect populations of salmon 10 kilometres away or 400 km away in the headwaters. What happens in the ‘Central Station’ affects the whole transportation system for salmon.”
In addition to presenting new biological data, the letter asks that government and industry acknowledge the full impacts of the project on salmon, the watershed, and aboriginal communities that depend on both.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Petronas’s Silence on BC LNG Act Sends Disquieting Signal
Petronas’s Silence on BC LNG Act Sends Disquieting Signal
Busy passing project terms, BC forgot to check on events abroad.
As the British Columbia legislature passed its “historic” Liquefied Natural Gas Project Agreements Act on July 21 after a lively eight-day debate, the most important player for which the special summer session of Parliament was convened kept an aloof — and worrying — silence.
Petronas, the Malaysian state energy firm with a 62 per cent stake in a consortium proposing to build a US$36-billion LNG project near Prince Rupert, did not offer a public thank you or congratulatory statement to the B.C. government of Premier Christy Clark for its efforts and hard-earned legislative victory.
The Pacific NorthWest LNG (PNW) consortium’s other shareholders, Sinopec (10 per cent), Indian Oil Corp (10 per cent), Japan Petroleum Exploration (10 per cent), China Huadian (five per cent) and PetroleumBrunei (three per cent), have been equally quiet.
It was left to PNW to issue a brief statement that the act — followed by the July 23 ratification of 25-year agreement terms covering royalty, income tax credits and carbon emissions — “brings us one step closer to building Canada’s first world-scale LNG facility.”
“The remaining condition of our final investment decision, environmental approval from the government of Canada, is being worked on diligently with First Nations, stakeholders and government representatives.”
Petronas’s silence is significant as B.C.’s elaborate undertaking to create, debate and pass the LNG act had been made in direct response to the company’s high-profile complaints and threats to call off the project if it did not receive legal certainty and the offer of generous investment terms. Petronas did not reply to a request for comment on B.C.’s new act.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Who Is BC’s Big LNG Partner? A Petronas Primer
Who Is BC’s Big LNG Partner? A Petronas Primer
Group led by Malaysia’s national oil company aims to build terminal near Prince Rupert.
Just one week after the Lax Kw’alaams band rejected a $1-billion offer by Petronas to build a liquefied natural gas terminal at the mouth of the Skeena River in British Columbia, Premier Christy Clark has signed an agreement with Malaysia’s national oil company to “establish the path to a final investment decision on the project.”
Part of that path includes a long-term commitment by the provincial government not to raise natural gas royalties, regardless of changes in global prices for the commodity.
Natural gas, like oil, is one of the world’s most volatile commodities in price.
“With this certainty, industry can plan their operations over a longer period of time and commit capital to jobs and production needs, while the Province has a guaranteed royalty revenue each year,” said a government news release.
Pacific NorthWest LNG, which is largely owned by Petronas, has yet to make a final investment decision, and the proposed multibillion-dollar project near Prince Rupert must still pass an environmental review.
Just what kind of company is Petronas, and what’s its relationship to the Malaysian government? The Tyee looked at the public record.
1. The government of Malaysia set upthe national oil company in 1974 when oil prices jumped from $1.50 to $12. The government did so with the goal of safeguarding “the sovereign rights of Malaysia and the legitimate rights and interests of Malaysians in the ownership and development of petroleum resources.” The company’s success has helped the government to reach out to the Muslim world.
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Canadian LNG Export Future Delayed, But Not Dead Yet
Canadian LNG Export Future Delayed, But Not Dead Yet
As the Lax Kw’alaams community rejected a $1 billion offer from Pacific NorthWest LNG as compensation for a proposed natural gas project this week, the global energy community took notice. With the native tribe turning down such an enormous sum of money, the rejection could put a chill on Canada’s energy investment prospects. Worse, it also raised the possibility that Canada would be shut out of the vast Asian markets that it needs to offload the natural gas the United States no longer wants. But the reality is more nuanced than that.
Community engagement has become far more important for oil and gas projects, and in accordance with international best practices, indigenous communities should be involved in a process of free, prior, and informed consultation. Cases in Canada, and across the Western Hemisphere, have shown that agreement between governments, private firms, and indigenous communities is possible. And when done well, everyone stands to gain.
Pacific NorthWest LNG, which is owned by Malaysian national oil company Petronas plus Sinopec, JAPEX, Indian Oil Corporation, and Petroleum Brunei, has been negotiating with the Lax Kw’alaams band council since 2011. The major point of contention is over the impact of the project on local fisheries, in particular salmon. Both sides have commissioned environmental reviews that come to different conclusions. Pacific NorthWest has offered to build a bridge it argues will protect the area, but the community is dissatisfied with the solution. The Canadian Environmental Agency’s own review is due later this year.
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