Canada Lures Oil Majors With LNG Incentives

By Mikhail Raj Abdullah and Nur Athirah Mohd Shaharuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 (Bernama) -- Canada is offering new incentives to attract oil majors like Petronas to boost investments in its liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector, as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government moves to streamline and fast-track permits for foreign investors in LNG and clean energy projects

Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada’s president and chief executive officer, Jeff Nankivell, said this provides greater certainty and a much shorter window for investors to enjoy a revenue stream.

“Obviously, that affects the value of the investment, which is the most important kind of incentive,” he told Bernama in a Zoom interview.

The Singapore-based Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada will be organising the Canada-ASEAN Business Forum 2025 at the same time as the ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) meeting, where Canada’s trade and economics minister will attend as a dialogue partner.

Nankivell said Carney, who will be attending the 47th ASEAN Summit in October, is expected to highlight Canada’s commitment to streamlining and fast-tracking major project development during the summit.

Canada’s zest to attract oil majors ties in neatly with Petronas’s desire to expand its presence in the country, as Canada is now one of its major LNG suppliers.

In a statement last month, the national oil corporation said it has about 50 trillion cubic feet of gas in Canada, adding that its LNG Canada project was only in Phase One.

Petronas successfully shipped the first LNG cargo from its Canada facility in Kitimat, British Columbia, on July 8 this year.

It operates the North Monetary Joint Venture upstream gas project and is a major equity partner with a 25 per cent stake in LNG Canada, a US$40 billion LNG facility.

Nankivell said the landscape has changed for Southeast Asian investors who, a decade ago, might have turned away from Canadian projects in favour of more attractive opportunities elsewhere.

“Now is absolutely the time to be taking another look because there are new opportunities and a new spirit in the government at the federal level in Canada, as the regulatory environment makes it much more favourable to the fast development of major projects,” he said.

-- BERNAMA