Keltic also has plans for LNG terminal
BY JENNIFER MALO
Special to the Telegraph-Journal
canadaeast.com
The dark horse in this race to build the first Liquefied Natural Gas terminal in Atlantic Canada doesn't have a name as big as Irving Oil Ltd. or Anadarko Canadian Corporation.
It's a smaller company called Keltic Petrochemicals Inc. but it proposes to build an LNG facility just as big the one in Saint John or Anadarko's in the Point Tupper Industrial Park in Cape Breton.
"When you have a name like Irving in New Brunswick that carries a lot of weight and when you have Anadarko now which is a major player in the oil and gas industry, that's substantial. But I think you'll be seeing equally recognizable names associated with Keltic in the near future," said William Begley, president of Stone and Webster Management Consultants on behalf of Keltic Petrochemicals.
When they assessed the plans for a new petrochemical project in Goldboro, N.S., Keltic found they didn't have enough energy to feed the plant so they decided to augment it with an LNG terminal. It will produce about the same as Irving's Canaport LNG, but it will be at least a year behind the competition.
Mr. Begley said the reasons for the delay stem from a supply issue rather than a concern for a straining market and it will push them into a 2009-2010 timeframe instead of opening in 2008 along with Irving and Anadarko. Keltic is in negotiations for supply partners in the project.
"We'll be at least a year behind Irving but that's a result not of the market, but where the supply is coming from," said Mr. Begley.
Both the pipeline and the market will be able to accommodate Keltic's LNG facility, and it's not so bad to follow behind Irving and Anadarko, he said.
"There's an advantages of being first-movers, and there are also some challenges. They're going to be the trailblazers that come up with all the problems first and we'll be able to learn from their mistakes." |
