The Government of British Columbia has publicly released the project development agreement (PDA) it signed with Petronas.
The agreement sets out the ratification process for the company and for government, identifies important milestones toward achieving project certainty, and provides long-term certainty that the investments will be treated equitably and consistently over the term of the agreement.
The agreement provides the proponent with assurance through legislation to be proposed and debated in the legislature that it will not face significant increases in certain specific taxes and environmental charges for the specified term of the agreement:
- the LNG Income Tax;
- the Natural Gas Tax Credit;
- the Carbon Tax (specific to liquefying natural gas at an LNG facility); and
- the key features of greenhouse gas emissions regulatory scheme at an LNG facility.
The PDA does not provide the proponent with assurance on laws of general application, such as changes to provincial sales tax or corporate income tax.
Finance Minister Mike de Jong signed the PDA on behalf of the province on May 20 in Vancouver, initiating a ratification process by both the proponent and the B.C. legislature. The government is recalling the legislature on July 13 to introduce and publicly debate legislation that will enable the Pacific NorthWest LNG agreement and future potential agreements.
