Environmental regulators in Canada have given developers of the proposed Pacific NorthWest LNG Project in British Columbia a three-month extension in the application process, to allow them to address environmental questions that have been raised about the project.
The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, which had been expected to announce a decision on the federal environmental assessment for the project, instead on Saturday said it had given the project developers, led by Malaysia's Petronas, the extension to complete the environmental assessment process.
In a statement, the agency said it had requested additional information from the project developers "in order to determine whether the project is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects," and said that its request "pauses the legislated timeline for environmental approval of the project."
The request for additional information followed the receipt of a March 4 letter from Pacific NorthWest LNG, detailing the project developers' plans for dealing with a number of outstanding environment and political issues, including mitigating potential adverse effects of the project on the population of harbor porpoises, limiting greenhouse gas emissions and consulting with Aboriginal groups.
"This information must be reviewed, analyzed, and considered in the final Environmental Assessment Report," the CEAA said. The agency said it has already received more than 34,000 comments on the proposed project.
The Pacific NorthWest LNG Project, which Petronas is proposing to build on Lelu Island, would be capable of processing 3.2 Bcf/d of natural gas and producing 19.2 million mt/year of LNG.
Project developers did not immediately respond to Platts' attempts to contact them for comment.
The extension announcement came one day after the agency issued a decision statement on the environmental assessment for the proposed Woodfibre LNG Project, saying that project is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.
The Woodfibre LNG Project located on the northwestern shoreline of Howe Sound near Squamish, British Columbia, is expected to operate for 25 years and to produce between 1.5 million-2.1 million mt/year LNG (200,000-280,000 Mcf/d).
