Spectra Energy Corp. (NYSE:SE) is partnering with Britain's BG Group on a multibillion-dollar natural gas pipeline and liquid natural gas (LNG) plant in Prince Rupert.
It is the fourth LNG plant proposal for B.C. but the first for Prince Rupert. Three other plants are all to be built in Kitimat.
Petronas, a Malaysian state-owned oil and gas company, has also partnered with BG Group and is considering Prince Rupert for an LNG plant, but that plan is still at the feasibility stage.
"Petronas is also looking at a site, but BG is out of the gates," Doug Bloom, president of Spectra Energy Transmission West, told Business in Vancouver.
The new 850-kilometre pipeline would cost between $6 billion and $8 billion to build, with Spectra and BG Group splitting the cost. That doesn't include the cost of a new LNG plant.
The pipeline would run from the gas fields of Northeaster B.C. to Prince Rupert. Bloom said it was BG Group's decision to build an LNG plant in Prince Rupert, as opposed to Kitimat.
"It's got a great port infrastructure," Bloom said. "Some companies seem to like the features at Kitimat; others seem to like the features at Prince Rupert, and BG is among those."
Bloom said the proposal is still at the early stages. A general corridor has been identified, but the actual route the pipeline will take will depend largely on environmental concerns and ongoing discussions with communities in the pipeline coridor, including First Nations.
Bloom said the company would try as much as possible to use routes through areas that have already been "disturbed" by other industrial activities, like logging.
Bloom said the pipeline and LNG plant are not expected to be built until about the end of this decade. The company has launched a website that allows the public to track the proposal.
Bloom said the pipeline project alone would create about 4,000 construction jobs, and 50 to 60 permanent jobs.
Headquartered in Houston, Spectra Energy specializes in the gathering, processing and movement of gas. It operates gas pipelines throughout Canada and the U.S. and just recently completed a $1.5 billion investment in B.C., which included the opening of a new natural gas processing plant near Dawson Creek.
