Sharing the LNG story

WestPac LNG will be in town on October 3rd to host an open house about its plans for a Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) receiving terminal for Ridley Island. The session will include a number of informational displays about the proposed terminal, transportation and environmental issues and the economic contribution that it will make to the area. The hours for the public open house will be from 4-8 pm at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre.

Expected to be completed and on line by 2011, it will provide for 300 construction jobs and approximately 30 on site operational full time jobs when completed.

Page three of Friday’s Daily News had the full details of the proposed open house. For those anxious to learn more about the wonderful world of LNG, the WestPac website has a number of links to information about the industry and the company's plans for Prince Rupert.

PUBLIC TO HEAR MORE ABOUT LNG
WestPac LNG to hold an open house to explain its Ridley Island plans
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, September 22, 2006
Page Three

The company planning to build a Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) receiving terminal on Ridley Island will outline its vision to the public during an open house October 3 at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre.

WestPac LNG is proposing a $350 million dollar terminal where it will receive gas from sources outside North America and ship it into the North American marketplace.

“This is the first opportunity we have to update the community on our plans and our environmental work,” said Wayne Stanley, vice president of WestPac LNG Corporation. “We are looking forward to meeting with the community and sharing information on our progress.”

The open house, which takes place from 4 to 8 p. m., will feature a number of educational displays that will provide information about the proposed LNG Terminal, as well as LNG transportation, storage and use, environmental safeguards and the economic contribution LNG will make to Prince Rupert.

It will also provide an update on WestPac’s environmental assessment activities that are currently underway. A number of senior WestPac representatives and LNG industry experts will be on hand to answer questions.

LNG is created by cooling natural gas into a liquid state at a temperature of minus 162C. This reduces the space natural gas occupies by 600 times making it practical for transport and storage.

The WestPac project will include a new marine berthing facility and up to four onshore LNG storage tanks. There is a proposed natural gas liquids extraction and storage facility; infrastructure for LNG load-out by barge, rail car an trucks; and LNG re-gasification facilities with a capacity of up to 130 million cubic feet per day of natural gas. There will also be related infrastructure for interconnection to existing natural gas pipelines at the project site.

The company expects there will be about one tanker delivery per week.

“LNG is one of the fastest growing segments in the energy industry with an expected 10 to 15 per cent annual growth rate over the next decade,” said Stanley. “This project will be a catalyst for future investment and will help us ensure the long-term economic health of the region.”

The Prince Rupert LNG terminal will create at least 300 jobs during construction and about 30 full-time jobs. It is scheduled to become operational in 2011.

This June, the company took the first step toward building the facility by filling a project description with the Port of Prince Rupert, the very first step in the environmental assessment process, which should take 12 to 14 months.

The WestPac project is not the only LNG terminal proposed for the North Coast. Gavelston LNG has received its provincial environmental permits and negotiated an agreement with the Haisla First Nation to build a $500 million Kitimat LNG receiving terminal. Gavelston has also entered into a partnership with Pacific Northern Gas to build a 470-kilometre pipeline from Kitimat to Summit Lake in order to get its product to market.

Site preparation for the Kitimat LNG terminal is expected to begin this fall, with operations scheduled to commence in 2009.