LNG

The Premier of the Canadian oil and gas province of Alberta said the provincial government aimed to invoke the sovereignty act to reject Federal clean energy regulations aimed at Alberta’s gas-fired power plants.

Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, seemed to dismiss the idea of shipping Canadian LNG to Europe at a meeting in Canada yesterday.

Protests are continuing across Canada in support of a minority of First Nation Indigenous peoples who are against the Coastal GasLink pipeline to bring feed-gas to the LNG Canada plant in British Columbia.

However, a majority of First Nations chiefs in Canada and British Columbia support the building of pipelines, LNG plants and other facilities on their traditional lands as they are given stakes, economic benefits and better job prospects.

Police arrested protesters occupying land of the First Nation band called, the Wet'suwet'en, over the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline while environmental activists disrupted ports and railway lines in other provinces.

The $6.6 billion Coastal GasLink pipeline will run for 670 kilometres, carrying natural gas from Dawson Creek in BC to the coastal town of Kitimat, located about 650 kilometres north of the province’s largest city Vancouver.

The pipeline route goes through traditional Wet'suwet'en territory and they are against it. However, other First Nations are backing the pipeline.

While some 20 elected band councils have signed agreements with Coastal GasLink Ltd., a subsidiary of North American pipeline company TC Energy, five hereditary chiefs have objected to the pipeline partially crossing the 22,000 square kilometres they say are under their jurisdiction. 

Ellis Ross, a BC member of the legislature and former chief councillor of the Haisla First Nation whose traditional lands are around Kitimat, said he sees the protests as meant for those who don't live in the affected areas and who don't understand Indigenous rights and title.

“It's geared for the coffee shops in Toronto, it's geared for the San Francisco crowd that have no idea,” said Ellis.

“They have no idea, or no interest, in why First Nations leaders were signing onto these major projects,” he added.

There has been an expansion in the protests that had previously been in isolated areas of the BC interior.

Protests took place in the centre of the city of Edmonton and in the province of Ontario there was a blockade of railway tracks near the town of Belleville.

There were also marches to Vancouver city hall and at the BC legislature building in in Victoria. 

The LNG Canada project is led by Royal Dutch Shell and is the largest private sector investment in Canada's history with spending of C$40 billion (US$30.2Bln).

Shell and its four partners, Mitsubishi Corp. of Japan, Malaysian energy company Petronas, Chinese major PetroChina and Korea Gas Corp., had agreed in October 2018 to start construction at the brownfield site near Kitimat that had been an energy products terminal before being acquired by Shell in 2011.

BC Premier John Horgan issued a statement about the protests at the Parliament Buildings in Victoria and in communities throughout the province.

“British Columbians have the right to peaceful protest. We support people in the exercise of their democratic rights - within the law,” said Horgan.

“That said, I understand the frustration of people who have been unable to go to work, who have been unable to enter government buildings or have been unable to get around in their communities,” he added.

“My government, represented by Scott Fraser, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, met on an urgent basis for two days in February in an effort to find a peaceful resolution to the impasse regarding the Coastal GasLink project. Regrettably, the talks were unsuccessful,” he explained.

“My government continues to be available to engage with the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs,” said the BC Premier.

 “These events show us why meaningful reconciliation with Indigenous peoples is our shared responsibility and is critical to our province and our country,” he said.

Canadian political tension over energy and environmental policies and the development of natural gas, LNG exports and minerals are escalating as ministers in three provinces have rejected the approach of the federal government in Ottawa, saying it offered no real solutions to carbon emissions beyond taxing hard-working families and businesses.

LNG Canada, the Royal Dutch Shell-led export joint venture in British Columbia, said Shell was pressing ahead while recognizing that it was likely not possible to get unanimous support for a major infrastructure venture project in the Canadian province.

Andy Calitz, Chief Executive of LNG Canada, said he believed that the Canadian economy would find it difficult to prosper without a growing and healthy resource sector.

“Projects like our own provide an opportunity that many First Nations and northern communities have not had before and may not see again,” said Calitz.

Calitz was speaking after protests and arrests in the province over the construction of the Coastal GasLink feed-gas pipeline to connect with the LNG Canada liquefaction plant proposed for the town of Kitimat.

The US$5-billion pipeline of 670 kilometres is being developed by TransCanada Corp. to bring the feed-gas from the Montney shale basin in northeast BC to the Pacific Coast.

The LNG Canada project is the largest private sector investment in Canada's history with spending of C$40 billion (US$30.2Bln).

Shell and its four partners, Mitsubishi Corp. of Japan, Malaysian energy company Petronas, Chinese major PetroChina and Korea Gas Corp., had agreed in October 2018 to start immediate construction at the brownfield site near Kitimat that had been an energy products terminal before being acquired by Shell in 2011.

“With a final investment decision made in October providing a green light to both the LNG Canada export facility and Coastal GasLink’s pipeline to proceed into construction, the years of work with First Nations, including elected and Hereditary Chiefs, municipal, provincial and federal governments, northern communities, and thousands of people working in industry in BC, came to fruition,” explained Calitz.

“The level of support received by LNG Canada and Coastal GasLink has been described as unprecedented for a resource development project,” he said.

“Despite opposition Coastal GasLink is currently facing, LNG Canada has every intention to continue to advance our project and maintain our construction schedule to deliver jobs and economic benefits to First Nations, local residents and British Columbians,” added the LNG Canada CEO.

“We are also conscious that any delay can erode confidence in British Columbia and Canada to deliver energy projects. We recognize it may not be possible to get unanimous support for a major infrastructure project in BC, but we believe Canada’s economy cannot prosper without a growing and healthy resource sector,” the CEO said.

“There needs to be recognition and respect for the decisions that have been made by 25 First Nations, their members, northern communities and the individuals living there that have put considerable effort and due diligence to come to a decision to support our project,” stated Calitz.

The Royal Dutch Shell-led LNG Canada project has become the main issue in the province of British Columbia in the run-up to the Canadian federal election this year, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau emerging as a supporter of the venture amid renewed protests.

The Canadian National Energy Board (NEB) has decided to consider a jurisdiction claim by environmentalists that pipeline company TransCanada Corp. needs more than British Columbian provincial permits to build the Coastal GasLink feed-gas supply line for the Royal Dutch Shell-led LNG Canada project.

LNG Canada is moving forward thanks to the support of members of the native North American Haisla First Nation in the Kitimat region of British Columbia who overcame the posturing of the Canadian political elite who tried to lecture the native peoples about caring for the environment while denying them well-paid jobs and careers in the energy industry.

British Columbia, the Canadian province seeking an LNG export and energy industry while many of its politicians and interest groups actively oppose the energy sector, has this week seen several landmark events relating to energy policies.

Western Canada’s natural gas industry is the subject of a revival effort after a surprise offering of tax breaks to liquefied natural gas projects by the provincial government of British Columbia in a last-ditch effort to save the LNG Canada project proposed by Royal Dutch Shell and its Asian partners.