By Julie Gordon
VANCOUVER, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Small-scale liquefied naturalgas projects are emerging as bright spots in British Columbia'sbid to become a major exporter of natural gas, with two floatingprojects on the Canadian province's Pacific Coast moving aheadeven as larger projects face delays.
The Douglas Channel LNG project, an early frontrunner thatwas stalled when one of its owners fell into bankruptcy, looksto be back on course after a consortium led by Calgary's AltagasLtd officially took control on Wednesday.
The group, which also includes Belgium's Exmar,France's Electricite de France and Japan's IdemitsuKosan, hopes to make a final investment decision on the550,000-tonne per annum (TPA) floating facility by yearend, withfirst exports in 2018.
"We do believe it could be the first LNG exporter off of theB.C. coast," Altagas director of finance Jess Nieukerk toldReuters on Thursday, adding Altagas will keep working withIdemitsu on another, larger, LNG export project called Triton.
The Woodfibre LNG project, meanwhile, entered its 180-dayenvironmental review phase this month, setting the stage for afinal decision later this year on the 2 million TPA terminal,which is backed by Indonesian billionaire Sukanto Tanoto's RGEGroup.
The two floating projects are relatively small compared withmega-developments being contemplated by companies such asMalaysia's Petronas and Chevron Corp, butlower capital costs mean their owners can move more quickly.
Woodfibre's floating facility, for example, is expected tocost roughly C$1.6 billion ($1.3 billion), while the DouglasChannel project is pegged at C$600 million, compared with C$11billion for Petronas' Pacific NorthWest LNG terminal.
Petronas delayed a final decision on its 12 million TPAproject in December, citing high costs and the impact of low oilprices on company revenues.
BG Group, which is developing an LNG project inPrince Rupert, also pushed back a final decision on its 21million TPA project last year and has said it now expects firstexports in the next decade.
Chevron's Kitimat LNG terminal, meanwhile, has been slowedby partner Apache's exit from the 10 million TPAproject. Apache agreed in December to sell its stake in thedevelopment to Australia's Woodside Petroleum.
While 18 LNG export terminals have been proposed for theBritish Columbia coast, analysts say tough competition and theimpact of falling oil prices mean it's likely just a handfulwill ultimately go ahead. (Reporting by Julie Gordon)
