BG Group to delay LNG terminal in Prince Rupert, Canada

British multinational oil and gas company BG Group plc says it won’t be until the 2020s before the liquefied natural-gas export terminal in Prince Rupert, Canada, goes ahead. It had informed regulators last year that the LNG plant’s first phase would start in 2015.

Madeline Whitaker, President of BG Canada, now says the starting date is uncertain.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Ms. Whitaker said:

“We’d always said [construction would begin] as early as 2016, but we now recognize it’ll likely be later, with commercial operations likely beginning early in the next decade.”

BG Group plc has 18 projects in the pipeline for the B.C. coastline. None of them have yet received the go-ahead. It has LNG marketing agreements at two US terminals, as well as projects in Brazil and Australia.

With more surplus LNG becoming available, the London Stock Exchange’s seventh largest company has become concerned about changing market conditions.

The Prince Rupert LNG Project includes the construction of an LNG plant and related port facilities to export natural gas globally. (Photo courtesy of Prince Rupert LNG)

Regarding the Prince Rupert project, Andrew Gould, interim Executive Chairman of BG Group said in a press conference:

“On Prince Rupert, as I’m sure you’ve seen that estimated volumes of LNG from the US have been calculated closer to 90 million tonnes per annum as opposed to the 60 million that was previously forecast.”

“So as a result of this, coupled with weakness in gas pricing generally, there is a risk that the market be very well supplied post 2020. And all we’re doing at this point in time is pausing on Prince Rupert, we’re not abandoning Prince Rupert, we’re pausing on Prince Rupert to see how the market evolves particularly in function of total supply that will come out of the US.”

“We will continue to work on the project but not at the same rhythm as perhaps we were working in 2014.”