TransCanada, Petronas LNG Project to Proceed

TransCanada Corp said on Friday a consortium led by Malaysian national oil company Petronas has decided to proceed with plans to build a terminal in northern British Columbia to export Canadian natural gas to Asia.

TransCanada said it plans to start construction this year of the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission line, to connect the Montney field near Fort St. John, British Columbia, to the PNW LNG terminal at Lelu Island, near Prince Rupert.

The final decision on the line will be confirmed by the partners of PNW LNG after receiving approvals from the British Columbia and Canadian governments, TransCanada said.

TransCanada said it planned to put the 900-km (560-mile) into service by 2019-20.

The Canadian government on Thursday approved another line, the C$1.7 billion ($1.4 billion) North Montney Mainline, which will feed into the Prince Rupert line.

TransCanada Chief Executive Russ Girling said the decision advances a key component of TransCanada's C$46 billion capital growth plan, which includes more than C$13 billion in proposed natural gas pipeline projects.

($1 = 1.2326 Canadian dollars)