July 25, 2017, 11:30 am PST
Vancouver, BC
Datuk Anuar Taib
Executive Vice-President & Chief Executive Officer, Upstream PETRONAS
Chairman, Pacific NorthWest LNG
Chairman, Progress Energy
Good morning to all of you. Thank you for taking the time to dial in.
Today is a very difficult day for Pacific NorthWest LNG and PETRONAS. As you are aware, Pacific NorthWest LNG has announced that the proposed LNG project will not proceed. As you can imagine, a decision of this magnitude is only made after very detailed and comprehensive evaluation of the information available to us. We are disappointed that the extremely challenging environment brought about by the prolonged depressed prices and shifts in the energy industry have led to this decision.
I want to acknowledge and thank the area First Nations and the communities for their contribution and support. I would like to also thank the entire Pacific NorthWest LNG team for their tireless efforts in achieving so many significant milestones over the years. As a result of their work, every single one of the requirements to ensure that the project received environmental assessment permits from both the federal and the provincial governments were met. In addition, one of the team’s significant accomplishments was the relationship built with the area First Nations. We greatly valued their feedback and suggestions throughout the project development.
While a project of the size and the scale of Pacific NorthWest LNG inevitably has challenged us along the way, the experience that we have gained has been very invaluable. Although we will not be proceeding with the Pacific NorthWest LNG, PETRONAS remains committed to Canada through Progress Energy. Over the years, Progress Energy and its North Montney joint venture partners have developed a reserves and contingent resource of around 52 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves and resource in the North Montney assets. I think by all accounts this is a world-class asset. In fact, for PETRONAS, we are positioning Progress Energy to be one of the top natural gas exporters in North America. That’s why we are moving our Unconventional Centre of Excellence from Kuala Lumpur to Calgary. The centre, which will house a network of technical experts with similar expertise, responsibilities and interests, will deliver operational innovations for PETRONAS worldwide unconventional gas plays with its core in Calgary.
We continue to believe that an LNG industry can thrive in British Columbia with the right project at the right time. Our experience tells us that the development of LNG business requires a long-term view of the market, world-class natural gas resources, competitive project costs, and supportive market conditions. Thank you very much.