BG Group to delay planned B.C. LNG terminal

British oil and gas producer BG Group PLC says it will be the next decade before it goes ahead with a liquefied natural-gas export terminal in Prince Rupert.

BG Group told regulators last year that it could begin construction on the first phase of an LNG plant next year.

But BG Canada president Madeline Whitaker said that timeline is now uncertain.

• B.C. LNG tax rates lower than first promised

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“We’d always said [construction would begin] as early as 2016, but we now recognize it’ll likely be later, with commercial operations likely beginning early in the next decade,” she said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

BG Group’s project is one of 18 proposed for the B.C. coastline, with none yet given a green light.

And the company is now worried about shifting market conditions as more LNG becomes available.

It already has LNG projects in Australia and Brazil and it has marketing agreements with two U.S. terminals.

In reporting third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, it said LNG total operating profit fell four per cent this year $576 million.

Whitaker said BG still sees B.C. as a promising location to ship LNG to China and other emerging markets.

“Our view on long-term demand hasn’t changed,” she said. What is in question is the timing of the Canadian project amid uncertainty in the global gas market.

British Columbia last week issued rules for a royalty regime for LNG in the province that won praise from other potential investors as taxes were lower than expected.