OTTAWA: A proposed US$27bil liquefied natural gas project in western Canada got a boost after British Columbia offered at least C$145mil (US$111mil) in funding for native groups. The province and two First Nation groups reached agreements that will allow Petroliam Nasional Bhd and its partners to work “on a common goal of realising the project,” Wan Badrul Hisham, chief project officer for Pacific NorthWest LNG, said at a news conference in Victoria on Wednesday.
The Pacific Northwest LNG project won approval from Canada’s federal government last September following years of regulatory reviews and strident opposition from indigenous communities, environmentalists and scientists who warned it could disrupt an area critical to migrating salmon. It also faced economic headwinds as more than 20 gas export proposals in British Columbia have been stalled by a global supply glut and plunging prices. BC Premier Christy Clark (pic) announced the deals with the Metlakatla community and the Lax Kw’alaams – a group that had earlier spurned a C$1.15bil compensation package from Petronas and the government.