The Government of Canada Approves Pacific NorthWest LNG Project
The Government of Canada is working to grow our economy, create good jobs for the middle class and opportunities for Canadians while protecting the environment for future generations. As the Prime Minister has emphasized, the only way to get resources to market in the twenty-first century, is if it is done sustainably and responsibly. Today’s announcement reflects this commitment. It is also an example of the successful application of the Interim Principles for project assessments announced in January.Today, the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, the Honourable Catherine McKenna, the Minister of Natural Resources, the Honourable Jim Carr, and the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, announced the Federal Cabinet’s decision to approve the $11 billion Pacific NorthWest LNG Project after a rigorous federal environmental assessment.The Pacific NorthWest LNG Project is a major opportunity to grow the economy. The project represents one of Canada’s largest resource development projects with a total capital investment of up to $36 billion when accounting for upstream natural gas development. During construction, the project will create an estimated 4500 jobs and an additional 630 direct and indirect jobs during the operation of the facility. As well as benefiting from job creation throughout the region, local First Nations communities will also benefit significantly through agreements reached with the proponent.The project is subject to over 190 legally binding conditions, determined through extensive scientific study, that will lessen the environmental impacts of the project. For example, Pacific NorthWest LNG Ltd. will be required to comply with mitigation measures that will minimize adverse effects on fish, fish habitat, marine mammals, wetlands, migratory birds, and human health.The project will be subject to a rigorous compliance and enforcement regime, which includes establishing environmental monitoring committees comprised of Indigenous peoples, and federal and provincial representatives, for the first time ever. Technical experts will monitor the project and will have the authority to stop project activities that do not comply with the conditions.In reviewing the project, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change applied the interim principles for environmental assessments announced in January with the Minister of Natural Resources, Jim Carr, designed to restore confidence of Canadians in the process. Examples of how the principles were applied to this project are detailed below. The decision also imposes – for the first time ever – a maximum cap on annual project greenhouse gas emissions.
Centrica in process of selling Canada oil and gas assets: spokesman
Centrica (CNA.L), Britain’s largest utility company, is in the process of selling all of its Canadian oil and gas assets and exiting operations in the country, a company spokesman said.Centrica and its joint venture partner, Qatar Petroleum, started the sales in process in July, spokesman Ross Davidson said, and will dispose of the natural gas assets purchased from Suncor Energy Inc (SU.TO) in 2013 for C$1 billion ($758.04 million).North American natural gas prices have plummeted since then due to oversupply and Centrica said last year it no longer saw Canadian operations, which make up around a third of the company’s production, as core to the business.
Centrica produces around 64,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in Canada, of which 90 percent is natural gas. The company’s operations are focused on southern Alberta and Saskatchewan.“We are focusing on Europe – Norway, the North Sea and Morecambe Bay,” Davidson said. “We have started disposal operations for Canadian assets, but do not know when that’s likely to close.”Centrica employs around 500 people in Canada. The country’s energy sector has been roiled by mass layoffs and steep cuts in capital spending as companies have struggled to cope with the two-year oil price slump.
https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/centrica-in-process-of-selling-canada-oil-and-gas-assets-spokesman/
