Prince George, B.C. –The President of the BC LNG Alliance,  David Keane, says the industry still faces many challenges, but he is very optimistic.

In a presentation to Prince George city council, Keane says he remains optimistic  about the future of developing LNG  exports although there are some  challenges from  competing nations,  the low price of oil,  and the labour component. Although  there is a silver lining to the  plunging oil prices,  as those workers who have been  laid off from the oil fields,  may  be available  to work  on LNG, “We have to be careful that we manage the labour expectations carefully” says Keane  as he notes  many  of those oil workers  may be  hired for  some of the  other major projects  such as  Site C  or the  Massey Tunnel project in the lower mainland.

Still, there are opportunities says Keane, who outlines the opportunities as being:

• Large natural gas resources
• Cold climate – ~25% increase in production capacity
• Close proximity to Asian markets
• Significant political support – federal and provincial
• Asian economies will grow and need energy

“The key point here is we have to be globally competitive” says Keane who believes of the many proposed LNG export projects,  only 7 are realistically  viable  “The capital  required is simply too much for a lot of proponents  to do.”

He says while  the  economy in China has slipped some,  it  is still growing,   predicting 2.2 billion  Chinese will join the middle class by 2030  and that there will need to be a 50% increase in natural gas production to meet global demand by 2030.

There are still final investment decisions to be made by proponents of BC  projects although  there is  no  word on when  any  decisions will be forthcoming.  “These companies will not make a long term decision based on the spot price of oil,  they will  be looking at where they  expect oil prices to be  in the long term.”  He says the members  of the LNG Alliance are “working very hard to  get their projects across the finish line.”