The financially troubled Douglas Channel LNG project has been pulled back from the brink, thanks to a consortium of companies led by AltaGas Ltd. (TSX:ALA) that has taken over the project
The floating natural gas liquefaction plant had been proposed by a partnership that included the Haisla First Nation – the landowner – Golar LNG Ltd. (Nasdaq:GLNG) and Texas-based LNG Partners.
But the project was put into question late in 2013 when LNG Partners was forced into file for insolvency.
AltaGas partnered with Idemitsu Canada Corp., a subsidiary of Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan Co. Ltd., and two other partners to assume the company’s debt and take over the project.
The consortium announced January 28 that it has completed the legal requirements to assume ownership of Douglas Channel LNG. It also announced it has concluded a long-term lease agreement with the Haisla, and a gas agreement with Pacific Northern Gas Ltd.
“The consortium is excited to advance this small scale floating LNG project and is looking forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with the Haisla Nation,” AltaGas COO David Harris said in a press release.
The consortium includes EXMAR, a Belgian company with LNG shipping experience, and an LNG offtaker – EDF Trading, a subsidiary of Electicite de France S.A.
