Dear Editor:
There are reports that the Vancouver LNG conference last week regarded the recent $400 billion Russia-China natural gas deal as a warning sign that
B.C. could lose significant market opportunities if it doesn't hurry up and develop an LNG export industry. However, I don't think the panic button should be pushed just yet.
For one thing, the deal will only meet 15 to 25 per cent of China's future gas needs.
The larger part of its overall demand for the fuel will have to be met by other world suppliers, including B.C.
And by all accounts the competition will be keen.
One way to secure a piece of the market is the "buyer's club" investor approach, a practice already underway in B.C. For example, the two front-runners in LNG development, Pacific Northwest LNG and LNG Canada, includes China-based energy companies as project partners. Part of the partnership agreement is a multi-year guarantee by the partners to buy a set percentage of the liquefied natural gas produced.
But let's not forget that the Asian market is bigger than just China. It includes the heavy gas-user nations of Japan and South Korea, as well as Malaysia, India and Brunei, all of which have energy companies that are also investment partners in one of the two B.C. projects mentioned above. As investors, they too will be customers.
You can't get a more secure market than that.
Bill Brassington, Burnaby
