Petronas said to be looking at moving Pacific NorthWest LNG to Ridley Island

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — According to the CEO of Petronas, the company may be looking at building the proposed Pacific NorthWest LNG export facility on the site of Shell’s proposed Prince Rupert LNG project, which it has since abondoned.

Bloomberg News is reporting that Shell’s Ridley Island site “could be one of the options” for a location for Pacific NorthWest, Petronas CEO Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur Friday. The Malaysian state-owned company has yet to make a financial investment decision on Pacific Northwest LNG project.

The Pacific Northwest LNG project was approved by the federal government last September after more than three years of regulatory reviews. Meanwhile, economic headwinds have caused a total of 18 gas export proposals in in B.C. to be stalled by a global glut of liquefied natural gas and the corresponding drop in prices.

Shell said on March 10th that it had dropped the Prince Rupert LNG project on Ridley Island, acquired as part of its merger with BG Group. Ridley Island is next to Lelu Island, where Petronas proposed Pacific NorthWest be built. Petronas announced late last year that it was looking at moving the project’s docking facilities to Ridley Island to both quell local opposition and potentially save as much as $1 billion by eliminating the need for a bridge over Flora Bank, which is a habitat for juvenile salmon.

Story courtesy Bloomberg News: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-03/petronas-may-consider-shell-site-for-27-billion-canada-lng-plan