Canadian Woodfibre LNG project pushes back construction start

The C$1.6 billion ($1.26 billion) Woodfibre LNG export project in Canada’s British Columbia has reportedly delayed the start of construction on its 2.1 million mt terminal to make the project competitive in the face of weak prices.

Woodfibre LNG, which is a privately held Canadian company based in Vancouver and backed by Indonesian billionaire Sukanto Tanoto’s RGE Group, said previously it would start construction on the terminal this year, however now it expects the construction to begin in 2018.

“We’re definitely moving forward, but the reality is that we still have some issues to resolve before we can say: ‘We’re in and this is actually happening on this timeline,’” Reuters cited Woodfibre LNG’s spokeswoman Jennifer Siddon as saying on Tuesday.

Siddon said that a dual front-end engineering process by KBR Inc and JGC Corp was complete, and that Woodfibre LNG would be moving to the next stage of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) with Houston-based KBR.

“The process between the completion of FEED and EPC can take several months, so that would take us into 2018,” Siddon said. A construction decision would come once an EPC deal is in place, with the build taking two to three years, according to the report.

Woodfibre LNG is also seeking help from both provincial and federal governments to give it a competitive advantage.

Siddon pointed to tax breaks on electricity costs, as the LNG export project would be hydro powered, and the relaxing of import tariffs on fabricated steel components as measures government could take to help the project move ahead, the report said.

The LNG project will be located approximately 7 km west-southwest of Squamish, British Columbia.

It involves construction and operation of a liquefied natural gas export facility on the previous Woodfibre Pulp Mill site, which would have a storage capacity of 250,000 cubic meters.

LNG World News Staff