Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Gold/Mining/Energy : LNG -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (386)	3/5/2005 12:58:32 PM
From: Dennis Roth	Respond to of 919

Huge $200m gas project hits ‘critical milestone’ By Leanne Ritchie The Prince Rupert Daily News Monday, December 13, 2004 rupertport.com The company that wants to build a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Terminal in Prince Rupert entered into an 30-year lease with the Prince Rupert Port Authority this morning. WestPac Terminals has signed an agreement that gives them exclusive rights for LNG development on 250 acres of industrial land on Ridley Island. It’s a critical step that allows Calgary-based WestPac to move forward on many other aspects of the project that will see LNG shipped from overseas, from potential sources in the Middle East, Australia, Indonesia and Russia, to Prince Rupert to meet the growing demand for natural gas in North American markets. “This agreement represents a critical milestone in the development of the project,” said Ron Woronuk, president of WestPac Terminals Inc. “We can now proceed with confidence to complete engineering and site development work as well as to finalize commercial terms with companies who wish to ship LNG through our terminal. It will also allow us to begin public consultation with key stakeholders in the region and to begin the process to obtain the requisite project approvals.” The $200 million project will comprise of, at minimum, a 180,000 cubic-metre storage tank, dock facilities and re-gasification plant. LNG will be transported to the terminal in large ocean tankers where it will be off-loaded and stored in the tank in its cooled liquid state. From this hub it will be transported by either rail, road, ocean vessel or pipeline to other markets. It is hoped the project will see one tanker arrive every 10 days. LNG is natural gas that has been super chilled to reduce it to 1/600th its original volume. This allows it to be pumped into tanker ships and transported across oceans. The project is being driven by the dwindling natural gas supply in North America coupled with increasing domestic demand, said Woronuk. “It is widely accepted that gas will have to come from other sources than the indigenous North American supply,” he said. Once again, Prince Rupert’s natural advantages, being a day and a half closer to Asia, as well as good rail access and a deep-water port played a large role in the company’s decision to set up the terminal here. Wayne Stanley, vice president with WestPac, said the company is working to see if the local communities could benefit from the cheaper source of natural gas entering the area. This in turn could help with economic development, said acting mayor Ken Cote. “Not only will the project generate significant job opportunities through the construction and operational phases of the project, but the availability of abundant, secure supplies of natural gas will remove bottlenecks that in the past have restricted economic development and growth in the region,” he said. The proposed terminal is scheduled to be operational by 2009, creating 300 direct jobs during construction and about 30 full-time jobs during the operational phase. WestPac will be the terminal operator only, responsible to receive, store and deliver LNG to shippers who contract capacity at the WestPac Terminal. The shippers will be responsible for the purchase of LNG and its delivery to demand centres on B.C. and North American markets. The announcement is also a significant step forward in creating an energy hub on the West Coast, said Don Krusel, president and CEO of the Prince Rupert Port Authority. “With the safest and deepest harbour in North America, along with the anticipated pipeline and offshore developments, this LNG project spearheads a dynamic energy transportation industry centered in the Port of Prince Rupert,” said Krusel. The announcement helps the port in its efforts to grow and diversify port activity through cruise ship, containerization and expansion of activities on Ridley Island. WestPac had previously signed an agreement with Ridley Terminals to use part of their facilities however an increasing world demand for coal has prompted a rise in the use of that facility, prompting the new agreement with the port. Early in the New Year, WestPac will commence its environmental and regulatory approval process. The company is planning extensive community dialogues to address any concerns the community may have about environmental and safety impacts. The company’s financing for the project will come with agreements for shippers to use the terminal’s capacity. “Before any construction takes place, long-term supply agreements have to take place and thus financing agreements have to be in place before a shovel hits the ground,” said Krusel in response to concerns about other projects which were promised but never materialized, such as the Sulphur Terminal, which was 80 per cent completed before the company behind it went bankrupt. Kitimat is also supporting a proposed LNG terminal 13 kilometres south of their community. Privately held Galveston LNG has already begun the environmental assessment for that $300-million project which is anticipated to be operation by the end of 2008.

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (386)	5/11/2005 8:11:40 AM
From: Dennis Roth	Respond to of 919

Kitimat Liquefied Natural Gas Project - Availability of $40,000 in Participant Funding Distribution Source : Canada NewsWire Date : Wednesday - May 11, 2005 press.arrivenet.com OTTAWA, May 11 /CNW Telbec/ - The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency announced today the availability of $40,000 in participant funding to assist groups and individuals to take part in the environmental assessment of the proposed Kitimat Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project. The proponent, Kitimat LNG Inc., proposes to construct and operate an LNG facility at Emsley Cove, approximately 18 km south of Kitimat, British Columbia. The facility would include marine off-loading, LNG storage, natural gas liquids recovery, regasification and send-out facilities. Gas would be delivered into the existing Pacific Northern Gas Ltd. pipeline in Kitimat. The project is subject to a comprehensive study assessment under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. Transport Canada and Environment Canada are the federal responsible authorities conducting the comprehensive study. The project is also subject to assessment under the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Act and the Agency is coordinating federal involvement in a cooperative assessment process. To receive funding, applicants must participate in the environmental assessment process of the proposed project. Opportunities to participate will include the review of the responsible authorities' comprehensive study report, expected in the fall 2005. They must also sign a contribution agreement with the Agency. Information on the participant funding program, including the Participant Funding Program Guide, the application form and the contribution agreement can be found on the Agency's Web site at www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca . Funding applications received by the Agency by June 3, 2005 will be considered. The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency administers the federal environmental assessment process, which identifies the environmental effects of proposed projects and measures to address those effects, in support of sustainable development. For more information on this project and others in your area, please consult the Canadian Environmental Assessment Registry at www.ceaa- acee.gc.ca/050/index_e.cfm, reference number 05-03-10430 Media may contact: Robert Deslauriers, Senior Communications Advisor, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, (613) 957-0396, Fax: (613) 948-1354, robert.deslauriers@ceaa-acee.gc.ca; For information on the Participant Funding Program, or to submit an application, please contact: Peter Bedrossian Participant Funding Program Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, Tel.: (613) 957-0254, Fax. : (613) 957-0941, peter.bedrossian@ceaa-acee.gc.ca

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (386)	12/22/2005 1:14:14 PM
From: Dennis Roth	Respond to of 919

Kitimat LNG switches to Beese Dec 21 2005 northernsentinel.com Ryan Calvery Kitimat LNG has changed the preferred site for their terminal to Beese Cove, leaving the original location of Emsley Cove as the alternative, says director of communications Patti Schom-Moffatt. “One of our issues was First Nations accommodation and it just became much more attractive to put the project on Beese,” she explained, adding the company had been doing a site evaluation on Bish throughout the permitting process. The switch has allowed an Agreement in Principle to be reached between the Haisla and KLNG. “It addresses all of the environmental concerns that we’ve expressed,” said Kitamaat chief councillor Steve Wilson. “And I think by taking this course of action we take it from being a marginal project to being the frontrunner and a project that can now succeed.” The Beese Cove location is zoned as Indian Reserve so, unlike with Emsley, the city will not receive the tax benefits of the project. But the money would not go directly to the Haisla either, Wilson pointed out. “The reserve out at Beese was surrendered to the federal government in 1997, so the lease agreement between KLNG and the Haisla would be a head lease between the company and the federal government,” he explained. That means KLNG would pay Indian and Northern Affairs Canada which in turn would pass the money on to the Haisla. The length of the lease is still being negotiated between lawyers, Wilson said, adding, “We’ve offered a 59 year lease.” Schom-Moffatt said the company still needs to study the lease length, but 20 years minimum is what they are looking at. “It will have to be at least for the length of the project.” Although both the Haisla and the company now prefer Beese as the location, she noted the final selection will depend on what the assessment by senior levels of government determines. It could, for example, decide the regasification plant and terminal would have less impact at Emsley. The agreement in principal does have a contingency that if Beese is rejected after the assessment, the Haisla will back Emsley as the alternative. But Wilson doesn’t foresee that happening. “The only issue that is of substance right now (with Beese) are the geotechnical issues,” he said. And he is confident the geotech studies conducted on the site in 1997 when Pac-Rim LNG was proposing an LNG terminal will support a decision to locate at Beese. That said, he conceded, “until we get an environmental assessment we can’t really answer that question.” KLNG was granted a suspension of the environmental assessment until mid-January to address concerns such as an agreement with the Haisla, Schom-Moffatt explained. But the company was not only in a race to reach an agreement with the Haisla, but also to beat competing projects in the US to market. “It’s hard to get anybody to look up north, so our advantage is getting up and running before anybody else,” she said. “There is a great probability KLNG will be first to market, pending regulatory review.” Although the company does not foresee any significant infrastructure changes with the new location, Schom-Moffatt noted public consultation will take place simply because Beese Cove is not what was presented to people through earlier open houses and advertisements. But instead of another open house format, KLNG will rely on advertising the project changes in the near future. Contact information will be provided so individuals can send their comments. Despite the addition of a second public consultation, KLNG only predicts a delay of a few extra days, Schom-Moffatt said. “We’re expecting to be through the environmental process within the same time frame.” © Copyright 2005 Kitimat Sentinel

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (386)	6/7/2006 4:38:02 PM
From: Dennis Roth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 919

Canada Kitimat LNG plant gets provincial OK Tue Jun 6, 2006 1:27 PM EDT ca.today.reuters.com VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - A provincial permit was issued on Tuesday to build a liquefied natural gas facility in Kitimat, British Columbia, while plans were unveiled to build another LNG facility in Prince Rupert, farther up the Pacific Coast. British Columbia granted a construction and operations certificate for Kitimat LNG's planned C$500 million ($450 million) receiving terminal and re-gasification facility at Bish Cove, which is about 14 km south of Kitimat. The plant with a capacity of 610 million cubic feet per day is intended to supply natural gas to U.S. customers. Backers hope to have it in operation by early 2009. The facility still requires federal environmental approval, and a pipeline must be built to reach U.S. markets. WestPac LNG unveiled a proposal on Tuesday for a 130 million cubic feet per day terminal in Prince Rupert, which is about 100 km northwest of Kitimat. If approved, the C$350-million facility would begin operations in 2011. Both Kitimat LNG and WestPac LNG are privately held companies based in Calgary, Alberta.

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (386)	6/15/2006 6:38:41 PM
From: Dennis Roth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 919

One down, one to go for KLNG By Ryan Calvery Jun 14 2006 northernsentinel.com All that now stands between Kitimat LNG and seeking suppliers for its proposed regasification plant is federal approval. Last Tuesday, June 6, both the provincial Energy and Environment ministries announced they had given the liquefied natural gas plant the green light. “This is a critical milestone for the project,” said KLNG president Rosemary Boulton. “It provides us a first advantage as to acquire supply, which is very important for the project.” And federal approval would place KLNG ahead of rival projects proposed for North America’s west coast in the race to secure LNG suppliers. In announcing the approval, the province said, “The joint provincial EAO Assessment Report/federal Comprehensive Study Report concludes no significant residual effects as a result of the project, subject to adherence to the application’s design components and implementation of mitigation measures agreed to by the proponent.” The provincial environmental certificate is subject to KLNG meeting 243 commitments it has made. These include measures to protect the coastal tailed frog, a habitat assessment of the jetty and marine terminal footprint - including an eelgrass survey - to determine habitat loss and establish habitat compensation requirements, and a marbled murrelet survey. Boulton is “cautiously optimistic” that the project will receive federal approval in the next few weeks. The timing of that is unknown because, unlike the provincials review process, there is no legislated timeline for federal environmental reviews. If KLNG does receive the go-ahead from Ottawa, Boulton said construction at the Beese Cove location - 14 kilometres south of Kitimat - would begin around late September or early October. After a halt for the winter, she said the real work would begin next spring. The estimated $500 million project will provide 700 jobs during the construction phase and result in about 50 permanent jobs.

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (386)	7/18/2006 10:16:19 AM
From: Dennis Roth	Respond to of 919

Kitimat gas line to serve oilsands LNG line would carry a billion cubic feet per day canada.com Shaun Polczer, CanWest News Service with files from Canadian Press Published: Tuesday, July 18, 2006 CALGARY -- A proposed $1-billion pipeline to move depressurized liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Kitimat could provide another gas source for Alberta oilsands producers when it comes online in 2009. Calgary-based Kitimat LNG on Monday formed a partnership with B.C utility Pacific Northern Gas to build and operate the line, which will have initial capacity of one billion cubic feet per day. "We've had significant interest from oilsands producers," Rosemary Boulton, Kitimat's president and chief executive officer, said in an interview. "We've had some good commercial discussions with them." LNG is supercooled natural gas compressed into liquid form and loaded onto ships. Once it lands onshore, it's restored to a gaseous state and transported through existing infrastructure to consuming markets. The joint venture -- to be called Pacific Trail Pipelines Limited Partnership -- will move the depressurized gas 470 kilometres to Summit Lake in northeast B.C., where it will hook into the Westcoast Energy mainline owned and operated by U.S. pipeline giant Duke Energy. From there, it will continue west into Alberta or south into the B.C. Lower Mainland and Washington state, and on to other U.S. markets such as California. But Boulton said the most attention so far has come from oilsands producers, who use about 500 cubic feet of natural gas to make one barrel of synthetic crude oil. Potential buyers will eventually be required to sign long-term contracts to backstop the project. The level of commitments received will determine the final diameter of the line -- 91 centimetres at a cost of $1.2 billion, or 76 centimetres costing $900 million -- although Boulton said the larger capacity is more "likely" at this point. Kitimat in June received initial environmental approval to build the LNG station, while a second Calgary-based firm, WestPac LNG, submitted a regulatory application to build a smaller facility near Prince Rupert. Meanwhile, Pacific Northern scrapped plans to convert into an income trust while it concentrates on building the new pipeline. Pacific Northern spokesman Greg Weeres said the Kitimat line will significantly change the "look and feel" of the regulated utility, which currently markets 115 million cubic feet a day to businesses and residents along the Kitimat corridor. "It will certainly increase the size of our asset base." Pacific Northern received approval from B.C. regulatory authorities to convert into an income trust last August, but Weeres said the level of capital expenditures required to fund its portion of the joint venture is inappropriate for a royalty income vehicle. "What we're saying is that traditional corporate financing is probably the best way to go," he said. Pacific Northern Gas owns and operates natural gas transmission and distribution systems. The company's western transmission line extends from the Duke Energy pipeline north of Prince George to Kitimat and Prince Rupert, and provides service to 12 communities and a number of industrial customers. In the northeast, the company provides gas distribution service in the Dawson Creek, Fort St. John and Tumbler Ridge areas. Site preparation for the pipeline is scheduled to begin this fall with initial construction starting in the first quarter of 2007, around the time the partners expect to receive regulatory approvals. Initial deliveries are expected to start in 2009, which Kitimat's Boulton said roughly coincides with an expected decline in gas supplies from Western Canada. So far, Pacific Northern Gas and Kitimat LNG have spent $1.5 million on the project and expect to spend another $6 million the rest of the year. Those costs will now be transferred to the partnership, reducing Pacific Northern's previously reported first quarter earnings by about $400,000 or 11 cents a share. For the rest of the year, earnings will be further cut by $2 million or 55 cents a share, the company said. Kitimat is currently in discussions with international suppliers in countries such as Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia to feed the terminal. The company is hoping to firm up supply deals early next year. According to the California Energy Commission, 16 separate LNG projects are proposed for the west coast of North America, from Mexico to B.C. Those plans represent more than 11 billion cubic feet per day of import capacity, but not all are expected to proceed. That's why it's important to send the message Kitimat plans to be first to market, Boulton said. "It provides our project with an even greater level of certainty and differentiates us from other projects that don't have the pipeline piece in place. "It's another milestone for moving our project forward." © The Vancouver Sun 2006

To: Dennis Roth who wrote (386)	9/26/2006 8:06:59 AM
From: Dennis Roth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 919

Australia's LNG Ltd to supply liquefied natural gas to Canada terminal 09.25.2006, 10:52 PM forbes.com SYDNEY (XFN-ASIA) - Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd said it has signed an agreement with a subsidiary of Galveston LNG Inc to supply 1.8 mln metric tonnes per year of liquefied natural gas to a proposed terminal in Canada. The 500 mln usd Kitimat terminal - located in the province of British Columbia and expected to commence construction later this year - will undertake the functions of importing LNG, re-gasification and send-out. The terminal is due to begin operation in the fourth quarter of 2009 and provide Pacific Basin LNG suppliers shorter shipping distances to North America and access to the largest natural gas market in the world. Under the agreement, and LNG sales from LNG Ltd would be purchased on a delivered basis at the LNG terminal. LNG Ltd chief executive Maurice Brand said the agreement with the Kitimat terminal provides security for the company to access gas supply from a number of prospects its is looking at within the Australasian region. LNG Ltd was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 2004 to act as an energy link between previously discovered but non-commercial gas reserves and existing, and potentially new, energy markets. In May, Golar LNG Ltd became LNG Ltd's largest shareholder. The Norwegian-based Golar is the world's largest independent owner of LNG transportation and listed on both the Oslo and NASDAQ stock exchanges. paul.daniel@xfn.com