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Calgary Herald

Pipeline planned to supply LNG project receives green light from B.C. regulator

Article content British Columbia has once again green-lit the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline, reaffirming an approval first issued under the former Christy Clark government for the line that will supply a major new liquefied natural gas export terminal proposed on the province's northern coast. Article content The decision by the head of B.C.'s Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) on Thursday means that PRGT's environmental assessment certificate will remain in effect for the life of the project, clearing a major regulatory hurdle for the 12-million-tonne-per-year (Mtpa) Ksi Lisims LNG project. Article content Article content Article content 'This is an important step, not just for PRGT, but for the Nisga'a Nation's vision of self-determination and long-term prosperity,' Eva Clayton, president of Nisga'a Lisims Government, which co-owns PRGT and Ksi Lisims with Houston-based Western LNG LLC, said in a statement. Article content Article content The floating LNG terminal proposed for Pearse Island, north of Prince Rupert, B.C., still awaits key environmental sign-offs from provincial and federal officials, but Thursday's decision confirms that the 750-kilometre pipeline intended to supply feed gas to the liquefaction facility can go ahead. Article content PRGT, which would transport around two billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) of natural gas from northeastern B.C. to the West Coast, had initially been granted its certificate in 2014 when TC Energy Corp. advanced the project to supply the Petronas-backed Pacific NorthWest LNG project. Article content Article content But Petroliam Nasional Bhd. — the legal name of Malaysia's state-owned Petronas — cancelled Pacific NorthWest LNG in 2017 amid economic and regulatory headwinds, leaving PRGT to languish until Western LNG and the Nisga'a Nation bought the project in 2024, amending and shortening the proposed route to supply Ksi Lisims LNG. Article content Article content The long delay put the pipeline at risk of losing its environmental certificate since, under provincial rules, each certificate comes with a deadline by which a project must be substantially started and PRGT's was contingent upon a November 2024 start date. Article content But in his decision released Thursday, Alex MacLennan, head of the EAO, pointed to the clearing of 42 kilometres of the pipeline's right-of-way and the construction of permanent features identified in the project's plans, including nine bridges, 47 kilometres of roads and a lodge.