Project Profile
Value: Undisclosed
Location: Grassy Point, near Prince Rupert in northwestern British Columbia, Canada
Capacity: 12 million tonnes a year (two processing units)
Area: 300,000 acres (121,407 hectares)
Start-up Year: 2021 to 2023
An Asian group led by CNOOC Ltd. is seeking a licence to export liquefied natural gas from British Columbia as the competition heats up to develop huge LNG megaprojects on the West Coast. CNOOC, which acquired Nexen Inc., and its two Japanese partners want to tap into northeastern B.C. natural gas and pipe it to Grassy Point, located near Prince Rupert in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. Through Nexen, CNOOC owns 60% of the Aurora LNG Ltd. joint venture, while the remaining 40% is held by Inpex Corp. and JGC Corp.
The project owners propose to develop the Aurora LNG project, which will include an LNG terminal comprised of a natural gas liquefaction plant, LNG storage and marine loading terminal. The LNG terminal will convert natural gas into LNG for shipment by tanker to key growth markets. Aurora plans to build two processing units, with capacity totalling 12 million tonnes a year. The planned commissioning and first cargo is expected to be in the 2021 to 2023 time frame for the initial two trains. The source of Aurora’s natural gas would be from property in the Liard, Horn River and Cordova shale gas fields in northeastern British Columbia. Aurora holds nearly 300,000 acres (121,407 hectares) of shale gas resource.
Operators:
Nexans (a subsidiary of CNOOC): Operator with 60% interest
Joint venture with 40% interest:
Inpex Corp.
JGC Corp.