Pembina Pipeline Corp. of Canada, the owner of the only approved LNG export project on the West Coast of the United States at Coos Bay in Oregon, has boosted its finances with an $800 million unsecured revolving credit facility.
With the addition of the credit note, Pembina now has $3.3 billion in revolving credit capacity and around $2.3Bln in available cash and unutilized debt facilities.
Pembina said the new credit line would be available for general corporate purposes, thereby providing additional liquidity and flexibility for its activities.
Pembina’s Jordan Cove LNG liquefaction and export plant in Oregon and its Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline project were approved in March 2020 by the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Pembina noted in its financial update that over the next two years, the company’s debt maturities are modest and include $73M in 2020 and $800M distributed across three instruments throughout 2021.
Calgary, Alberta-based Pembina acquired the Jordan Cove LNG project in late 2017 in its takeover of another Canadian company, Veresen Inc.
The project includes a 230-mile pipeline which would traverse four counties in Southern Oregon on the route to the liquefaction plant.
The liquefaction plant and other facilities are planned for a 200-acre site and comprise five small-scale Trains each with 1.5 million tonnes per annum of output for a total of 7.8 MTPA.
“In today's challenging and uncertain environment, ensuring ample liquidity is of utmost importance and I would like to acknowledge and thank our key lender group for their swift response,” said Scott Burrows, Pembina's Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
“We enjoy productive, long-term relationships with our lenders and value their deep understanding of our business,” added Burrows.
“Over the past two weeks we have taken decisive and unprecedented action to preserve our strong balance sheet, protect our ‘BBB’ credit rating and ensure we have the liquidity to fund our business until market conditions stabilize,” stated the CFO.
The LNG venture is only one of several North American projects Pembina is developing and they include the Prince Rupert liquefied petroleum gas export terminal on Watson Island in the Canadian Pacific Coast province of British Columbia.
That project is a rail terminal to move LPG from rail cars to ships destined for international markets.
There is no on-site processing or refrigeration, and smaller volumes for storage and movement require a smaller footprint relative to other energy facilities proposed on the West Coast.
However, Jordan Cove LNG has multiple facilities, including two full-containment storage tanks with total capacity of 320,000 cubic metres, gas treating infrastructure, an export jetty and access to more than 25 billion cubic feet per day of gas supply from Western Canada and the US Rockies.
The project’s affiliated Pacific Connector pipeline will have a 36-inch diameter with capacity to transport up to 1.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.
Feed-gas for Jordan Cove would be sourced at the Malin Hub, creating a new outlet for natural gas from areas such as the Rockies Basin.
The export plant is expected to be visited by about 120 LNG carriers per year and Pembina has signed preliminary accords with Jera Co. Inc. and Itochu Corp. of Japan for the supply of cargoes.
