Friday, January 8, 2016

(LNG) British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission is not a Regulatory Body, Its an Energy Industry Gift Shop






(LNG) British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission is not a Regulatory Body, Its an Energy Industry Gift Shop


Written by Grant G


There has been lots of news on the British Columbia LNG industry as of late...And, the news has been bad, really bad..

Mr. Jarvis,  the executive director of Energy Services B.C. stated last week, and I quote..

"2015 has been the worst year in over a decade for the natural gas industry"

Mr. Jarvis went on to say..


"LNG investment may be too late after 2016"


"A triple whammy"

Jarvis says LNG workers suffered in 2015 due to three main factors, including cuts — as much as 20 per cent — to companies' profit margins, fewer projects, and more competition for jobs due to waning LNG sectors in other provinces.
"We're kind of hit with a triple whammy in this region," he said.
"What that means of course is less income to the communities, less income to the province, and of course, [it's] pretty tough to be sustainable," said Jarvis.

Dwindling opportunity


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/lng-jobs-2016-1.3389022

Mr. Jarvis also said the same thing and a whole lot more in this radio interview..

Have a listen(link directly below)

https://t.co/FDexuLTRWC

I have written on many occasions this...Every time bad news on the British Columbia LNG front rears it`s ugly head the following days out comes artificial LNG hype and spin,

The artificial spin and hype is generated by the BC Liberals and their spindoctors, or in this particular case..The spin and hyperbole is being generated by the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission...Not a regulatory body, it is a BC Liberal creation called the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission(also known as the British Columbia Energy Industry Gift Shop).

The very next day after the CBC story and radio interview with Mr. Jarvis..A article and radio interview where you can hear and feel the panic in Mr. Jarvis`s tone....the very next day out came this, courtesy of the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission...And of course British Columbia`s domestic newspaper ran the article(posted the junk news)....That article linked directly below

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/shell+joint+venture+obtains+permit+facility+kitimat/11632155/story.html?__lsa=6dcc-b3f6

And....the hilarity of the article, not so much as to what was said in the article, but the headline of the article....Here is that headline

Shell-Led joint venture obtains KEY permit for LNG facility in Kitimat

This so-called "key permit" was issued by the B.C. Oil n Gas Commission..When has this BC Liberal creation ever denied any permit to the energy/natural gas industry, how many leaked stories about how this commission has granted illegal water- draw permits, even as northern streams and lakes are near dry...The point I`m making...

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B.C. Oil and Gas Commission accused of violating Water Act


Three environmental groups have filed a lawsuit against the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission and natural gas company Encana over the use of water from B.C.'s lakes and rivers.
The suit, filed Wednesday in B.C. Supreme Court, claims the commission has granted repeated short-term water licences, in violation of the provincial Water Act.



The environmental groups say as Encana proceeded with the fracking process to extract natural gas from underground reserves, it drew 880 Olympic swimming pools worth of water over three years from the Kiskatinaw River, which supplies drinking water to the city of Dawson Creek.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-oil-and-gas-commission-accused-of-violating-water-act-1.2425442

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Shell Canada was never ever concerned about getting a go-ahead and build nod from BC`s Oil n Gas Commission..All British Columbia permits required to build, or pipe gas, ship gas, pollute gas are already guaranteed....The BC Oli n Gas Commisssion has denied near nothing...The Vancouver Sun..The Province Newspaper must be aware of that or willfully blind..

In other words..The BC Oil and Gas Commission granted a permit to build to Shell Canada.

A building  permit that Shell Canada knew was guaranteed long ago, never in doubt...The news nugget? was merely pulled out, it was pulled out of a hat like a magician and his rabbit....

Christy Clark and Rich Coleman are still playing blind man`s bluff..Still trying to keep the LNG bluster alive and this will continue through to the British Columbia 2017 election...And, you can take this to the bank, by election time 2017..British Columbia will still not have an LNG terminal shipping LNG..By election 2017 ...We will still have vague promises of FIDs just around the corner..of course that will come with a warning..elect BC Liberals or the $trillion dollars and million new LNG jobs will vanish..blah blah blah...

Remember last summer, the special legislative session ...Where the BC Liberals rammed through a PDA for Petronas..Remember that generational giveaway.. ..The tax rate slashed, greenhouse gas rules removed, everything granted to Petronas...

The BC Liberal Corporate Party granted the B.C. Oil N Gas Commission new powers..Granting a "build permit" was never before in their purview..Ah.But those rascally BC Liberals changed that..and...

And Stephen Harper was busy toiling away on behalf of the energy industry too..

Stephen Harper(The oil obsessed Prime Minister) was still in power, and he was busy, not only did he appoint more energy industry hacks to the NEB(National Energy Board)..Stephen Harper granted the NEB new powers....
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After helping Kinder-Morgan lobby for the Trans-Mountain expansion, now Kelly will be on a board that is regulating pipeline construction. The NEB has already been criticized by the Sierra Club of Canada for creating regulations it claims benefit oil companies drilling in the Arctic.


Marc Eliesen, former CEO of BC Hydro said: It’s utterly incredible the Government of Canada would appoint such an industry consultant to a regulatory agency that presumably is interested in the public interest, and not in the interest of multinational oil corporations.The NEB have totally become a captured industry regulator."

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/politics/harper-appoints-a-pipeline-consultant-to-national-energy-board/article/440066#ixzz3whhBd7qj

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Well..That "key permit"  article wasn`t enough to quell the naysayers..the time was ripe to flex those newly granted NEB powers too..

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http://www.lngworldnews.com/lng-canada-granted-40-year-export-licence/

The Canadian National Energy Board granted a 40-year licence to LNG Canada to export liquefied natural gas from its liquefaction facility to be built near Kitimat, British Columbia. 

Under the licence, which still has to be approved by the Governor in Council, LNG Canada is allowed to export 1494 billion cubic metres, NEB said in its statement on Thursday.
According to the regulator, this is the first 40-year licence since the amendment of the National Energy Board Act in June 2015.

It was concluded that the volumes of liquefied natural gas LNG Canada plans to export are surplus to Canadian demand.

The joint venture set up by Shell, Kogas, Mitsubishi and PetroChina received a facility permit for its proposed liquefaction plant that would initially consist of two 6.5 mtpa LNG production trains with an option to expand the facility with additional two trains.

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The NEB only had the power to grant 25 year export licenses...after the Harper NEB amendment, they can grant 40 year export licenses!!!

Like I said...Those new NEB powers were flexed yesterday too...Right, ..BC Liberals needed another bit of LNG news to keep the "con" going...The Governor in council  highlighted above..That is Federal Jurisdiction...That still needs to be approved..

We`ll see what happens with that approval which is under Justin Trudeau control(or is it?)...

Anywho, what does all of the above really mean?....Not much at all...all it does prove is that BC`s domestic media are still ball-less wonders, still in the hands of the BC Liberals and big industry...Means there is still no quality journalistic LNG news coverage coming from British Columbia oriented mainstream media..Vancouver Sun..The Province..CTV..Global..CKNW..When it comes to LNG coverage BC`s media are still mailing it in...

Let`s get to the meat of the issue, there is still a world glut of LNG..There is still gobs and gobs of new LNG supply coming online, including USA`s Sabine Pass operation, they have started shipping LNG.. the price is still in the tank and China can no longer hide their recession... China can`t afford to build anymore ghost cities...

http://www.lngworldnews.com/update-cheniere-confirms-it-will-ship-first-lng-export-cargo-in-jan/


But what about Shell Canada, what about those BC Liberal generated stories, it must be true right?..No, just spin..





Here is how the story should have been reported in our domestic papers...
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The BC Oil & Gas Commission (BCOGC) on Tuesday authorized, subject to local safety and environmental conditions, a Kitimat processing and tanker-loading complex for up to 3.7 Bcf/d planned by the group of Shell (50%), PetroChina Corp. (20%), Korea Gas Corp. (15%) and Mitsubishi Corp. (15%) (see Daily GPI, July 6, 2015).


The approval is the first of many in the works at the BCOGC, which last year delegated exclusive power to make terminal site construction decisions on the long lineup of BC overseas gas export projects to the commission.

LNG Canada previously received federal and provincial environmental approval, hired a construction general contractor, made a power supply deal with provincial government-owned BC Hydro, and lined up benefit agreements with the Kitimat native community.

The LNG Canada group has been working on its export scheme for about five years, and Shell had said it would make a final investment decision about the project in 2016 (see Daily GPI, Nov. 10, 2014).


In the biggest part of the preparations, Shell has emerged as a top producer in the Montney formation, tapping the shale-like and liquids-rich “tight gas” formation straddling northern BC and Alberta for about 410 MMcf/d with horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques (see Shale Daily, Jan. 4).


The gas currently goes to traditional markets in Canada and the United States, including northern Alberta thermal oilsands extraction where Shell is senior partner in one of the biggest bitumen mining and synthetic crude upgrading complexes.


In announcing the BCOGC permit, Shell indicated full-scale construction remains a considerable time away and is not a sure bet.


The company called the ruling “an important step forward” but added that “the project must ensure it is economically viable and meets several other significant milestones including finalizing engineering and cost estimates, supply of labor, and achieving other critical regulatory approvals before making a final investment decision.”


Shell has been pulling back across North America and in December sharply reduced its development plans for 2016 (see Daily GPI, Dec. 23, 2015).



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All the money Shell Canada is spending on site prep work and logistics is pocket change pennies to that behemoth corporation, they can write it off as a business loss

Shell Canada can also just walk away and not lose a minute`s sleep over it...

The window of opportunity has closed....Maybe a new round of terminals will be built in the next decade...and or maybe the sheep in the world will wake up to the fact that LNG is the dirtiest fuel, not a bridge fuel and it`s money wasted when countries can spend less money in the longterm by building green renewable energy..



The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open



5 comments:

Anonymous said...

And then there is this desperate cheer-leading, drum beating, and circling of the wagons, right on cue.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/pacific-northwest-lng-project-poised-to-begin-despite-abundant-supply/article28094599/

Unknown said...

Good and informative enjoyed the read nice to find a good source- mike

Merv Ritchie said...

The only pipeline in the process of construction is the PTP (Pacific Trails Pipeline) which was originally designed and approved in 2007 as a Natural Gas "IMPORT" pipeline as the Tars sands required more gas to fuel their operations.

Chevron and Apache joined to form Kitimat LNG and reapplied to change this to "EXPORT" gas. The entire route (complete with 100 man camps and pipe lay down clearings stocked with bridging components) is now cleared from Summit Lake near Prince George to Douglas Channel and Bish Cove just west of Rio Tinto Alcans Aluminum Smelter at Kitimat, BC. Only a section through Wet'sewet'en territory, defended by the Unistoten Clan, remains untouched. The Unistot'en continue to evict surveyors.

The land mass above Bish Cove is all cleared, enough for a massive tank farm.

Flair Airlines has been landing two 737's every week at the Terrace/Kitimat Airport to do crew changes. Flair Airlines is Shells contract airline. All the workers on the PTP project claim to be paid by Shell but wear Chevron hats and logos.

Shell is part od LNG Canada with Petro China who only wants the bitumen from Athabasca, their own oil sands fields. China's Cosco Dalien shipping arm has recently launched 15 brand new VLCC's (Very Large Crude Carriers), refurnished 10 refineries and built 10 brand new refineries specifically for Alberta's bitumen.

Christy Clarks Gov't has just signed a TFW (Temporary Foreign Workers) agreement with China to allow them to bring in their own people to participate in LNG construction.

They will then build this pipe and convert it immediately to Oil.

It is a "Shell" game.

Grant G said...

Thanks Merv...However, they`ll have to change the federal Government as Trudeau has put a moratorium on tar-goop tankers on BC`s northern westcoast...But indeed..It is a mere Shell Game...By the way..That Shell BG merger has just been quashed..

Cheers

sd said...

Another "missing" news story in B.C. is the leaking methane gas from a natural gas storage facility in Porter Ranch California.Thousands are affected and it has been ongoing since October.Seems they took out the shut off valve a few years back and never replaced it.