They may not be letting onto it in the press, presenting a nonchalant and confident face to the people of the province, but if Christy Clark and Rich Coleman aren’t worried about the fate of the LNG industry in B.C. then they are either the most pompous individuals in the country or they are simply clueless.
In the past several months, rather than good news item after good news item coming ahead of the end of 2014, word from proponents of multi-billion dollar export terminals has been increasingly negative. In the last three months, Apache pulled out of the Kitimat LNG project, Petronas threatened delay of the Pacific NorthWest LNG project and just last week the BG Group announced it was “pushing pause” on its Ridley Island terminal.
When a single company raises questions about the viability of an LNG export terminal, it is fairly easy to dismiss it as an issue with that company. But when three separate companies behind arguably the three largest LNG projects all indicate this may not be the time to dip their toes into the B.C. energy export pond, that’s a sign of an issue with the industry itself.
Coupled with dropping gas prices, competition from our neighbours to the south, the high cost of construction relative to other areas and an expected influx of new supply, B.C. could be left out in the cold.
While there may be some here on the North Coast and throughout the province who would welcome the departure of the industry, those people need to look at the bigger picture and wake up to reality.
If you want to see the LNG industry fail, then you better find a viable substitute that would create countless spinoff businesses that are going to pickup the tax tab to keep the services we all enjoy so much running smoothly and in perpetuity.
Or, in the alternative, prepare to either lose those services or cough up a lot more when it comes to tax time.