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CALGARY – ExxonMobil Corp. has joined the race to export liquefied natural gas from British Columbia with a monster proposal that would process the equivalent of nearly one-third of Canada’s current daily production.
The world’s largest energy company is seeking approval from Canada’s National Energy Board to export up to 30 million tonnes annually of liquefied natural gas, or four billion cubic feet a day, over 25 years from a prospective terminal in the vicinity of Kitimat and Prince Rupert, B.C., it said in an export application filed with the regulator Wednesday.
Exxon, which has optioned land from the B.C. government at Grassy Point, north of Prince Rupert, said the project would initially produce 10 million to 15 million tonnes of chilled fuel per year, beginning in the 2021-to-2023 time frame. At full capacity, the facility would include six processing units. It would draw gas from fields owned by Exxon and Imperial Oil Ltd., its Canadian subsidiary, the company said.
No capital cost for the project was given, but the application is the biggest export scheme proposed for Canada’s West Coast yet. It comes in the same week as the U.K.’s BG Group Plc asked Canadian regulators for permission to export up to 21.6 million tonnes of LNG per year, or roughly 2.9 billion cubic feet of a day. Canada’s natural gas production, by comparison, stood at 14.1 billion cubic feet per day in 2012.
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“Obviously not all of these will get built,” Brian Youngberg, an analyst who follows Exxon at Edward Jones & Co. in St. Louis, said in an interview. “Right now it’s a race to get buyer agreements and permits. With some of the others probably a bit further along in the process, Exxon is playing catch-up here.”
Royal Dutch Shell PLC, San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron Corp. and a smaller project led by Houston-based LNG Partners LLC and the Haisla First Nation have all secured export permits. Malaysia’s Petronas, which is also considering an export scheme near Prince Rupert, has yet to file an export application.
Exxon paid $3.1-billion last year for upstart Celtic Exploration Ltd., in a deal widely viewed as first step toward securing needed reserves to support an export development. Imperial later paid $1.55-billion for a 50% stake in the acquired company. Discussions with “several” pipeline companies are underway to connect gas supplies to the coast, Exxon said.
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