Licence Application – LNG
Woodside Energy Holding Pty Ltd. (“Woodside Energy”) applied to the NEB for a licence to export liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) from an export point near Grassy Point, British Columbia pursuant to section 117 of the National Energy Board Act. Woodside Energy’s licence application requested the following:
(a) A licence duration of 25 years beginning on the date of the first export;
(b) Annual export volumes of 20 million tonnes of LNG (or approximately 28.95 billion cubic metres, annually); and
(c) A maximum quantity of 807 million cubic metres over the term of the licence.
Woodside Energy submitted that the natural gas proposed for export does not exceed the surplus remaining after due allowance has been made for the reasonable foreseeable requirements for use in Canada. Woodside Energy submitted that the North American and Western Canadian gas resource bases are robust sources of supply and are growing with the development of new technologies. Woodside Energy also submitted that the export of natural gas would not cause any difficulty for Canadians in meeting their natural gas prices at fair market value, due to the open and efficient nature of gas markets in Canada.
Woodside Energy also submitted that although the NEB has issued a large number of LNG export licences for a very large volume of natural gas, not all licences would use their full allocation.
The NEB, agreed with the submissions of Woodside Energy, noting that the market information and general forecasts were consistent with the NEB’s own market monitoring information.
The NEB therefore granted the licence for the export of LNG under section 118 of the National Energy Board Act, subject to the following conditions:
(a) The annual volumes requested by Woodside Energy are subject to a 15 percent annual tolerance to account for fluctuations (the NEB noted that the tolerance was factored into the maximum term quantity);
(b) The licence will expire if LNG exports do not commence within 10 years; and
(c) The issuance of the licence is subject to approval of the Governor in Council.
