Many approvals needed to export the product
The U.S. company hoping to open a long-awaited liquefied natural gas plant at Bear Head at Point Tupper near Port Hawkesbury has applied for an export licence from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Bear Head LNG and Bear Head U.S.A. are looking for long-term, multi-contract authorization to export 503 billion standard cubic feet per year to Canada by pipeline.
A news release issued late Tuesday suggests this application is one of many approvals needed to export the product.
“This represents a significant step forward for our LNG export facility at Bear Head, Nova Scotia,” John Godbold, COO and project director for Bear Head LNG, said in a news release.
Godbold said since Canadian regulatory approvals are already in place or in the process of becoming so, he expects commercial operation to begin in late 2018 or early 2019.
The plant will be capable of receiving, processing, storing and shipping liquefied natural gas. The LNG would be loaded on to ocean-going vessels for exports to other markets. An export licence application was filed with the Canadian National Energy Board last month.
The project is to be developed on a 255-acre site with deep water anchorage and when opened it will be the closest LNG plant to the European market and the growing Indian market.
Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd. bought the stock and assets of Bear Head LNG in August from Anadarko Petroleum Corporation.