Bear Head LNG facility might not make it off the ground

A U.S. energy consultant doubts a planned liquefied natural gas facility in Cape Breton will ever be built.

The province has approved construction of a $4 billion plant in Richmond County.

Barbara Shook, bureau chief of the Houston-based Energy Intelligence Group, says the region is competing with massive LNG projects in the U.S. that are ready to go

"I just don't see how the Nova Scotia project can compete with somebody who actually has money, who actually has a contractor, who actually has customers, who actually has supply," she said.

John Godbold, the project director for Bear Head LNG Corporation, sees big potential for exporting.

The company wants to build a plant that would export eight million tonnes a year of liquefied natural gas.

He says they're getting ahead of other projects in the region.

"This final approval provides tremendous credibility in the global LNG market and really sets us apart from the others in terms of which project is really going to go ahead first," he said.

Godbold says the company, with its Australian parent, is investing millions.

The provincial approval means the company can now move to engineering design, look for customers and secure a source of natural gas.

The company will make a final decision on going forward next year. Operations could start by 2019.

Bear Head purchased the Point Tupper site from Anadarko Global Holdings Company in August for $11 million.