VICTORIA — With LNG Canada nearing the finish line on its export terminal in Kitimat, Energy Minister Adrian Dix says the way is clear for an expansion that would double production in the next few years. Read More
Vaughn Palmer: 2030 deadline can be missed if grid electricity is not available in time, which seems likely
Article content
VICTORIA — With LNG Canada nearing the finish line on its export terminal in Kitimat, Energy Minister Adrian Dix says the way is clear for an expansion that would double production in the next few years.
Article content
Article content
“The decision as to whether LNG Canada proceeds with the second phase is largely a decision from them,” Dix said this week. “That’s a sort of a budgetary investment decision for them.”
Article content
Story continues below
Article content
“Them” is lead proponent Shell and its four partners in the joint venture that owns the multi-billion-dollar LNG Canada project.
Article content
Westcoast Homes
Article content
They are expected to make a final investment as early as next year on whether to proceed with doubling the annual output from Pase 1’s 14 million metric tonnes of LNG to 28 million tonnes.
Article content
Dix was responding to comments made in B.C. this week by Pierre Poilievre.
Article content
The federal Conservative leader visited the LNG Canada project, which is 95 per cent complete, and vowed that a Conservative government would greenlight the second phase without hesitation.
Article content
Poilievre forecast that expansion would be “impossible” under the federal Liberal government’s cap on emissions from natural gas-powered facilities.
Article content
“The project will not go ahead if it cannot run on natural gas,” he told Rob Shaw of Business in Vancouver. “If the Liberals are re-elected, this expansion will not occur.”
Article content
However, the B.C. energy minister disputed Poilievre’s reading of the situation.
Article content
Story continues below
Article content
The second phase of LNG Canada does not need further approval from either the federal or provincial government, according to Dix.
Article content
Stories You May Like
-
B.C. finance minister keeps dodging questions about fudge-it budget
-
Bellingham option for cancer therapy proved a good safety valve for B.C.
-
Advertisement embed-more-topic
Story continues below
Article content
Both phases were permitted a decade ago in a joint federal-provincial review. The process predated current net-zero requirements, so those do not apply.
Article content
Moreover, the approvals were granted with full acknowledgement that the liquefaction machinery would be powered by natural gas turbines.
Article content
“The project is already permitted and it’s permitted as a gas-fired project,” said Dix.
Article content
“So he – Poilievre – is factually incorrect. Hopefully, he reads a little more so he’s a little better informed.”
Article content
Dix’s intervention in the federal campaign marked the second time the energy minister has clarified the situation regarding LNG expansion in B.C.
Article content
Last month he wrote to Alex MacLennan, CEO of the environmental assessment office, regarding the application of the net zero standard to new LNG facilities.
Article content
Formerly, those were required to reach net zero in terms of emissions by 2030, a standard that was increasingly regarded as unachievable.