SYDNEY, N.S. — The provincial regulator has approved extensions to construction deadlines for sister companies planning to build a liquefied natural gas plant and related pipeline in Bear Head, Richmond County.
The Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board issued the orders this week. The board noted it had received no comments on the applications.
Bear Head LNG and Bear Paw Pipeline applied Oct. 4 for extension to the permits, which were due to expire Dec. 31.
In its filing, John Baguley, chief operating officer with Bear Head LNG, noted that the project has been delayed in initiating construction due to the difficulty in securing the necessary natural gas feedstock for the LNG facility. He also wrote that Bear Head has been negatively affected by changes in global energy market conditions since the initial permit approval.
The companies didn’t seek to change any of the terms of the permits, only seeking to extend the deadline to Dec. 31, 2022.
The board recently asked the company to confirm it has an office in Nova Scotia. It files with the NSUARB economic benefits report, as required under the decision granting it a permit to construct the pipeline.
The LNG permit was originally issued in June 2006 and amended in March 2015.
The pipeline permit was originally issued in September 2016.
The most recent report stated 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.
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.
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.
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