SYDNEY, N.S. — The sister companies planning to build a liquefied natural gas plant and related pipeline in Bear Head, Richmond County, have applied for extensions to their deadlines for the construction permits associated with the projects.
Bear Head LNG and Bear Paw Pipeline applied Oct. 4 to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board for an extension to the permits, which are due to expire Dec. 31.
“(Bear Head) has been delayed in initiating construction due to the difficulty in securing the necessary natural gas feedstock for the LNG facility,” John Baguley, chief operating officer with Bear Head LNG, wrote in the application. “Bear Head has been negatively affected by changes in global energy market conditions since the initial permit approval. These market condition changes include a substantial imbalance in the current LNG supply-demand situation, deferral of long-term purchase commitments by the market and instability in energy pricing including LNG.”
Bear Head LNG and Bear Paw Pipeline
- Construction permits are due to expire Dec. 31, 2019
- The LNG permit was originally issued in June 2006 and amended in March 2015
- The pipeline permit was originally issued in September 2016
As a result, Baguley wrote that the time necessary to obtain binding LNG agreements required for the project is proving longer than anticipated. He added they have had to increase marketing efforts.
The companies aren’t seeking to change any of the terms of the permits, the hearing order issued by the NSUARB notes. They only seek to extend the deadline to Dec. 31, 2022.
The hearing will involve a paper process, with comments by interested parties due by Nov. 8 and reply comments by the applicants due by Nov. 29.
The notice of application states that the role of the board in this matter is to only consider issues of public safety.
“The Board’s mandate does not include environmental matters, nor is it the economic regulator of Bear Head and Bear Paw,” it states.
FAST FACTS
- Bear Paw is a subsidiary of Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd. and sister company to Bear Head LNG
- All necessary approvals have been received for the pipeline which is proposing to construct and operate a 62.5-kilometre gas pipeline lateral
- The pipeline is to deliver natural gas from receiving points near Goldboro, Guysborough County to Bear Head LNG export facility in Richmond County
- Bear Head LNG would convert natural gas into a liquefied form to be shipped overseas, with a facility consisting of a 327-acre site that includes 255 acres onshore and 72 acres offshore.
The applications are available on the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board website and the companies have also been ordered to publish them to their own respective websites.
The review board has also notified a number of First Nations groups of the applications.
Bear Paw Pipeline Corp. recently filed its 2019 biannual benefits report with the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board, as required under the decision granting it a permit to construct the pipeline. It states that the company spent $269,000 in Nova Scotia during the first half of the fiscal year. The expenditures were in areas including consulting, permitting, sites and offices, community donations and First Nations.
Spending in the first half of the 2019 fiscal year included about $154,221 in private consulting costs; $77,779 for site and office costs; $5,000 for permitting; $29,808 is listed under First Nations; and about $2,728 in community donations.
The 2018 biannual benefits report stated that the total expenditure in Nova Scotia during the first half of the fiscal year reporting period was just below $500,000. That compared with about $5.4 million in spending in 2016 and $1.2 million in 2017.
RELATED: Bear Paw spending in Richmond County continues to decline
