Canada's Pieridae to evaluate options to support proposed LNG plant (updated)
02/07/2021 13:10
(Adds details and background on the project)
July 2 (Reuters) - Canadian energy company Pieridae Energy
Ltd PEA.TO will evaluate options for its proposed Goldboro
liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant in Nova Scotia, as
pandemic-led disruptions have made the current version of the
project impractical.
The company said on Friday it had not been able to meet the
key conditions necessary to make a final investment decision on
the project.
It did not detail the alternatives it was exploring, but
said there was still robust demand for the super chilled fuel
from Europe and high global LNG prices.
"It became apparent that cost pressures and time constraints
due to COVID-19 have made building the current version of the
LNG Project impractical," Pieridae said.
The pandemic had slashed demand for the fuel, forcing
companies to delay final investment decisions on various LNG
projects and hold back on capital spending in the uncertain
environment.
Pieridae is one of more than a dozen North American LNG
developers that have repeatedly pushed back decisions to start
construction primarily due to a lack of long-term deals needed
to finance the multi-billion dollar facilities. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2NE1ZR
Pieridae, however, has a 20-year agreement to sell the LNG
from Goldboro's first liquefaction train - about 5.2 million
tonnes per annum (MTPA), or 0.68 billion cubic feet per day of
natural gas - to German utility Uniper SE UN01.DE .
Pieridae has said engineering firm Bechtel Corp plans to
deliver a fixed-price proposal to build the plant by the end of
May. The project would employ about 3,500 workers during peak
construction.
(Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru and Scott DiSavino in
New York; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
((arathys.nair@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 8780 (Extn 2726);
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArathySom;))