Kitimat Mayor Philip Germuth was pleased to see reports Sunday that investors in the $40 billion LNG Canada project would announce their intention to proceed with the project as early as Monday.

The liquefied natural gas pipeline and export terminal would create between 300 and 500 jobs in Kitimat, enough to replace many of the jobs lost in the port town in recent years, Germuth said.

“It would be huge, of course,” he said. “It’s the largest private investment in Canadian history, so we’re really looking forward to everything moving forward.”

There are five companies involved in the LNG Canada project: Royal Dutch Shell, Malaysian company Petroliam Naisonal Bhd, Mitsubishi Corp., PetroChina Co., and Korea Gas Corp. Shell is the largest investor in the project.

On Sunday, reports surfaced that the five companies had agreed to proceed with the project, which has been promised billions federal and provincial tax incentives to get underway.

The provincial component of that incentive package remains uncertain, with the BC Green Party opposed to LNG development in the province. Green leader Andrew Weaver reiterated on Twitter that his party would not support legislation enabling LNG development, but speculating that the opposition BC Liberals might.

 

 

Weaver’s three-person caucus has a “Confidence and Supply Agreement” (CASA) with the BC New Democratic Party, allowing the latter to govern with a minority of seats in the B.C. legislature.

In Kitimat, Germuth said the likely approval of LNG Canada has already led to increased interest from other companies working on other LNG projects.

“We’ve already had some inquiries that can’t be discussed yet about others looking at Kitimat,” he said.