June 27 (Reuters) - Woodfibre LNG, a liquefied natural gas(LNG) project in Canada, said it had signed a unit of BPas its first customer, a crucial step towards developing theexport facility.
Woodfibre said on Wednesday BP Gas Marketing Limited hadagreed to buy 0.75 million tonnes per year (mtpa) of LNG for 15years starting in 2023, when the project in British Columbia isexpected to come onstream.
The facility's capacity is expected to be 2.1 mtpa.
It said it was also working on an agreement "for BP Canadato provide gas transportation and balancing services ensuring areliable delivery of gas to the Woodfibre LNG export facilityover the 15-year term".
Dozens of companies are planning LNG export terminals inNorth America to capitalise on gas made accessible from shaledrilling technology. Signing up committed, long-term buyers isvital for financing and building such projects.
Royal Dutch Shell approved its 14 mtpa project inKitimat, northern British Columbia, in October, triggering a newcycle of projects to be built to meet an anticipated LNGshortage in mid-2020s.
But the LNG Canada project is the only one in Canada to haveprogressed to construction stage.
Woodfibre LNG is a subsidiary of Pacific Oil & Gas, part ofthe Singaporean conglomerate RGE. Pacific Oil & Gas operates twoLNG import terminals in China, as well as other upstream andmidstream oil and gas assets.
LNG produced on the west coast of Canada is likely to besold in Asia which accounts for about 75 percent of globaldemand. There are at least half a dozen LNG export terminalprojects planned in Canada, and more in the United States.
(Reporting by Sabina Zawadzki)
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