Cdn First Nation seeks clarity on Kitimat LNG future
BC’s Haisla Nation, on whose traditional territory the Chevron-operated Kitimat LNG liquefaction terminal would have been built, is seeking clarity after Chevron’s partner, Australia’s Woodside Petroleum, said it was backing away from the 18mn mt/yr project.
In a statement posted to the First Nation’s website on May 20, chief councillor Crystal Smith said Haisla Nation Council was surprised to learn of Woodside’s decision and was in discussions with Chevron to gain clarity on the project’s future.
|
Advertisement: The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) NGC’s HSSE strategy is reflective and supportive of the organisational vision to become a leader in the global energy business. |
“We are also reviewing all of [Kitimat LNG’s] obligations with the Nation under terms of the benefits agreement we signed with them in 2006,” Smith’s statement said. “When we have more information and a clear understanding of the state of the project and its future we will report to the Haisla community.”
In the meantime, the statement said, Haisla Nation continues to focus on the development of its own Cedar LNG project, a 3mn-4mn mt/yr floating liquefaction terminal on BC’s Douglas Channel, about midway between Bish Cove, where the Kitimat LNG project would have been built, and the Anglo-Dutch led LNG Canada project, a 14mn mt/yr terminal now under construction just outside Kitimat.
“Ownership of Cedar LNG will bring the Nation tremendous economic opportunities and benefits and give the Haisla people control of our own economic development future,” Smith’s statement said.
(Banner photo courtesy Haisla Nation; artist Lyle Wilson)