Plans are underway in Kitimat for a potential announcement regarding a proposed $40-billion liquid natural gas export facility.
Shell Canada won’t confirm the rumours at this time, but a previous spokesman for the industry and now Liberal MLA for Richmond-Queensborough believes the marketplace has improved significantly in recent months.
Jas Johal, member on the Select Standing Committee on Crown Corporations, told Global News if announced next week, it would mark a huge success for the Liberals who did most of the heavy lifting to get this project off the ground.
“We support responsible resource development, we look forward to the NDP presenting their LNG legislation,” Johal said. “The devil is always in the details and we want to make sure British Columbians get a fair return for their natural resources.”
On Wednesday, B.C. Premier John Horgan suggested it was the Liberals who prevented LNG from happening in B.C. because of the onerous taxes imposed by the then government under Christy Clark.
WATCH: NDP government offers tax breaks for LNG
“The BC Liberals kept piling on costs onto an industry that had not yet even been established in British Columbia and that scared away some investors as prices, international prices went down,” said Horgan.
Johal said that is “ridiculous.”
WATCH: Keith Baldrey explains how Premier John Horgan and the BC NDP plan to offer incentives for LNG production in the province.
But Horgan added the investment would overall be a good one for the province.
“We’ll see what LNG Canada does but should they proceed with the final investment decisions will be certainly significant for our province,” added Horgan on Wednesday.