LNG Landscape Shifts In Nova Scotia

There have been significant recent developments in the liquefied natural gas sector in Nova Scotia.

Pieridae Energy has delayed a decision on building a $10B LNG export facility at Goldboro, citing fallout from the global coronavirus pandemic, while asserting that the outlook is favourable for the project in the future.

"Market conditions and the global fallout from COVID-19 have impacted our ability to make a final investment decision this fall, but we are confident it will happen once conditions improve and we can better analyze the landscape," Pieridae Chief Executive Officer Alfred Sorensen said in the company's fourth-quarter earnings release.

Subsequently, the Calgary-based company announced it has secured extensions of the key deadlines under its 20-year LNG supply agreement with German energy company Uniper Global Commodities that gives Pieridae until June 30, 2021 to make a final investment decision on the Goldboro facility.

Under the extension agreement, Pieridae committed to starting commercial deliveries of gas to Uniper between August 2025 and February 2026.

Sorensen is optimistic about the future of the facility.

“Over the last several weeks we have seen projects in Australia, Africa and the Gulf Coast either cancelled or delayed indefinitely due to the challenging energy market. We believe this is an opportunity for Canada to enter into this industry at a time when others are exiting. Our Goldboro LNG project is fundamentally sound‎ and with fewer competing projects, now is the time to proceed,” he said in early May.

Meanwhile, Australian-based Liquified Natural Gas Limited, which owns Bear Head LNG in Cape Breton, has stopped operations and filed for a halt in trading on its stock on the Australian Securities Exchange.

The moves follow a failed $75M takeover bid for LNG Ltd. Singapore-based LNG-9 pulled out of the deal, citing a collapse in bridge financing by LNG. Following the pullout, directors on LNG’s board resigned and on May 1 voluntary administrators from PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia were brought in.