From: brewnoser2@gmail.com   
      
   VANCOUVER SUN - February 4, 2016   
      
      
   Clark to face B.C. election without LNG dollars   
       
       
   OTTAWA -- One of B.C.'s top liquefied natural gas projects has been delayed, a   
   blow to Premier Christy Clark's ambitious LNG dream that has left her planning   
   for the next election without LNG revenue.   
      
   Royal Dutch Shell announced Thursday it is "postponing" a final decision on   
   the $50-billion LNG Canada project in Kitimat.   
      
   LNG Canada had been one of the Clark's highest hopes to proceed before the   
   2017 provincial election because it already has federal and environmental   
   approvals.   
      
   Instead, Finance Minister Mike de Jong said he will table a budget later this   
   month that estimates no revenue from any LNG facilities until 2018-19.   
      
   Clark had campaigned in 2013 on a promise of a "debt-free B.C.," with a   
   $100-billion LNG prosperity fund from an industry expected to generate 100,000   
   jobs.   Three years later, no companies have started construction, leaving   
   Clark's initial timeline of    
   a small LNG export facility by 2016 and three more by 2020 unlikely to be met.   
      
   Yet the premier continued to voice confidence in the industry Thursday.   
      
   She seized on a note in Shell's package to investors and media indicating that   
   a "final investment decision" on the Kitimat-based project has been postponed   
   only from April to December of this year.   
      
   "To me the good news in that, when you see energy projects getting cancelled   
   all over the world, and you see producers cutting their capital investment in   
   Alberta, in countries across the globe, (LNG Canada) announced that they   
   re-committing to the    
   project in British Columbia," she told reporters in Ottawa.  "The date's   
   changed but their commitment to it hasn't, and you see that they've put it in   
   writing."   
      
   Shell Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden, in a statement to Shell   
   shareholders, didn't mention the new target date but revealed the company   
   suffered an 80-per-cent plunge in profits in 2015.   
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
      
   Royal Dutch Shell assured investors that it is responding to the turmoil in   
   energy markets by slashing billions of dollars in spending, reducing its   
   global workforce by 10,000, and among other measures "postponing final   
   investment decisions on LNG Canada.   
   "   
      
   Royal Dutch Shell holds the controlling interest in LNG Canada, along with   
   PetroChina, Mitsubishi, and KOGAS.  They are working in partnership with the   
   Haisla First Nation to construct the LNG project, including a plant and   
   terminal in Kitimat, at a cost    
   of up to $50 billion.   
      
   LNG Canada spokeswoman Katharine Birtwistle issued a statement after Royal   
   Dutch Shell's announcement saying "we are still very much on track" to make a   
   decision in late 2016.   
      
   LNG Canada chief executive Andy Calitz, who was part of Clark's delegation to   
   Ottawa, confirmed that all four partners have decided they "want to remain in   
   the project," but are delaying their final decision.   
      
   He later noted that the project's "fundamentals" -- a proximity to Asian   
   markets, a 40-year licence, and an attractive fiscal regime -- remain positive   
   when compared to   
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ !!   
   competing LNG projects in areas like the Gulf of Mexico and Africa.   
      
   "The turmoil cannot last forever.  We will come through that.  The   
   fundamentals (of the project) are really sound."   
      
   LNG analysts said Shell's delay was not a surprise, and any new date projected   
   for a final investment decision would only matter if market conditions   
   improved.   
      
   "Look at the commodity prices and everything else, I don't think anybody   
   should be surprised the decision is pushed out a little bit," said Dirk Lever,   
   managing director of institutional equity research at AltaCorp Capital Inc.    
   "To make a final    
   investment decision, they are probably having to rerun some numbers and so   
   some other work. So I'm not surprised at all."   
      
   Lever said the comments from Shell's CEO are more illuminating than the   
   subsequent reaction from LNG Canada's project press office, which insisted the   
   project remains on track.   
      
   Vancouver energy lawyer David Austin said it's unlikely any LNG project will   
   proceed until all regulatory approvals are in place, banks are willing to lend   
   money and there are buyers lined up to purchase the LNG product.   
      
   "Market alignment is not the same as political dreams," he said.  The market   
   is "in turmoil" and it's very difficult to see final investment decisions by   
   LNG companies until things improve, he said.   
      
   The Shell setback landed smack in the middle of what was an otherwise good day   
   for the premier, who is leading what some believe might be the largest   
   provincial delegation to Ottawa in the nation's history.   
      
   Clark, who will meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Friday, was joined by   
   four cabinet ministers and more than 100 senior representatives from the B.C.   
   business community, as well as people from academia, the labour movement and   
   First Nations.   
      
   She said the feedback from Trudeau's ministers is that Ottawa is strongly   
   supportive of B.C.'s top two priorities -- LNG and new softwood lumber accord   
   with the U.S.   
      
   Clark said the federal government's new interim federal policy on   
   environmental reviews won't be a problem for the LNG sector, even though the   
   new system will add additional requirements to consult First Nations and take   
   broader greenhouse gas emissions    
   into consideration.   
      
   "That's okay, because we know that we're creating the cleanest LNG in the   
   world."   
                  [anyone who buys that will get a free LNG tour]   (=_=)   
      
   She noted that Ottawa has promised that the new process won't add further   
   delays to B.C.'s LNG sector, a key message for Petronas given that it's Prince   
   Rupert-area project has been stalled in a federal environmental review.   
   [snip]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)