This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on October 4, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s (Petronas) 25%-owned LNG Canada Development Inc’s C$40 billion (about RM129 billion) liquefied natural gas (LNG) project is the largest private sector investment in Canada’s history, says Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

In a statement posted on his website yesterday, Trudeau said the project in Kitimat, British Columbia is expected to create 10,000 jobs at the height of construction, leading to billions of dollars in direct government revenues and include hundreds of millions of dollars in construction contracts for indigenous businesses.

“Today’s announcement by LNG Canada represents the single largest private sector investment project in Canadian history. It is a vote of confidence in a country that recognises the need to develop our energy in a way that takes the environment into account, and that works in a meaningful partnership with indigenous communities,” he said.

The prime minister also announced C$275 million in federal support, as well as a commitment that trade barriers will not get in the way of the generational project.

“The largest infrastructure project of its kind in Canada, it will include a natural gas liquefaction facility, a pipeline, and a marine terminal to export surplus Canadian natural gas to some of the world’s fastest growing economies in Asia. Once built, it will have the lowest carbon intensity of any large-scale LNG facility in the world,” Trudeau said.

“The LNG Canada facility will be built in Kitimat. Construction is expected to begin soon, with the terminal in service by 2024. At full capacity, the terminal will convert and export as much as 26 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year, primarily to Asia. This represents roughly 20% of overall gas production in Canada,” he added.