The fate of LNG development on Grassy Point, near the entrance of Work Channel, will be clear by the end of the month.
Four companies — Australian energy giant Nexen, Woodside Petroleum of Australia, SK E&S of Korea and Canada's Imperial Oil — all submitted proposals to develop the site following a request from the provincial government back in April, and Minister of Gas Development Rich Coleman told those gathered at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Sept. 3 that work taking place at the site to determine how it can be developed is nearing completion.
"By mid-September, we will know exactly how many terminals can be hosted and what the future looks like for Grassy Point," he said.
Grassy Point is located across from Lax Kw'alaams, and Lax Kw'alaams Mayor Garry Reece has gone on record saying he would like to see the area developed because it would mean a road connecting his community to Prince Rupert. But Coleman said any such road is likely still years away.
"We can't get ahead of ourselves. We need to recognize we are in a competitive atmosphere," he said
"I would like to see a final investment decision, then I'll figure out the rest."
While the number of terminals in the Northwest has yet to be determined, Coleman said there is plenty of supply to meet the demand for a number of terminals.
"With the reserves we have today, we could supply outside customers gas for the next 85 years and we have even larger reserves in the ground," he explained.
"Right now we ship 1.8 trillion cubic feet of LNG to the North American market. If LNG develops successfully, even with three terminals, we will ship an additional 5 trillion cubic feet to Asia."