Future of Pacific NorthWest LNG uncertain amid high costs and depressed market
CALGARY — The Pacific NorthWest LNG project may have secured the federal government’s blessing, but it could not have come at a more inopportune time.
The world market is awash in liquefied natural gas, a glut that has some wondering whether Malaysian energy giant Petronas and other backers are able to move ahead with the development.
“We’re just at the start of one of the largest buildups of LNG capacity in history, and we won’t see the peak of that until some point in the early 2020s,” said Alex Munton, an analyst with global energy consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie.
The project, which would include the construction of an $11-billion export terminal in northern B.C., is expected to produce about 19.2 million tonnes of LNG per year at full capacity — production the world won’t need for some time, Munton said.