Province and Petronas sign letter of intent on North Coast LNG project

Premier Christy Clark, Natural Gas Minister Rich Coleman and other members of the British Columbia Trade Delegation currently touring Asia, were quick to herald their first major announcement of their International trade travels this week.

Sunday evening, some of the background on a letter of intent between the Province and the Malaysian Energy company Petronas was released, which will see terms of reference for the proposed development in place by June 30th, with a project development agreement to be delivered by November 30th.

As part of the discussion in Malaysia, both the Province and Petronas highlighted the growing commitment towards developing the LNG industry in British Columbia and in the case of Petronas, towards its interest in the Lelu island project in Prince Rupert.

The announcement of Sunday has been considered a boost towards moving the Pacific Northwest LNG proposal further ahead, with Petronas seeking to have the province finish the details on their taxation regimen to be put in place on the LNG industry.

Towards that goal, the Premier advised Petronas officials that it was her plan to have that tax plan in place by November.

As part of Sunday's announcement, the Province also used the occasion to ask that Petronas increase the pace of it's planning towards the Prince Rupert LNG terminal project.

The Globe and Mail had the first report of the agreement signing, providing this recap of the early days of the BC delegations travels in Malaysia.

You can follow the progress of the Premier and her delegation from Asia through the BC Government's Media access page, which features this archive page for the 7 day trade mission.

Details on the Sunday announcement can be found here.

In addition to their time in Malaysia, the group will also be making stops in Singapore and Hong Kong.

There are currently four large scale LNG proposals in the works for the Prince Rupert area, with the Petronas project making major strides towards their planning in recent months.

More news items on the Premier's discussions with Petronas can be found below:

Vancouver Sun-- Clark plans LNG tax ruling by November 30

You can review the full listings of LNG development proposal for the region from our Archive page.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review