By Naureen S Malik and Natalie Obiko Pearson: 1 October 2018, 22:53 BST: Updated on 2 October 2018, 08:32 BST
- LNG Canada partners said to formally approve investments
- British Columbia gas-export terminal to cater to Asian markets
The developers of a C$40 billion ($31 billion) project to export Canadian natural gas are taking on a bold strategy: build now and worry about buyers later.
After a decade of planning and negotiations, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and four partners gave their formal approval to build the gas-liquefaction and export terminal in British Columbia, according to a statement late Monday local time. The super-chilled fuel that’s produced will be divided up among the partners, who will each be free to sell it however and to whomever they please, according to Andy Calitz, chief executive of the joint venture, LNG Canada.
That this gas-export project achieved the key milestone known as final investment decision, or FID, without committing all or most of its output to 15- or 20-year supply contracts is a major departure. From Australia to Africa, LNG developments typically have been underpinned by long-term sales contracts to minimize financial risk on multibillion-dollar investments that can take half a decade or longer to construct.
“What you are essentially seeing is speculative development, of using a model that has not been traditionally the model for developing big LNG projects in the past,” said Jason Feer, head of business intelligence at Poten & Partners Inc. “Most LNG projects that went to FID had pre-sold a significant percentage of their output via long-term contracts.”
Shell commands the biggest stake in LNG Canada at 40 percent, with Malaysian oil giant Petroliam Nasional Bhd owning 25 percent. Mitsubishi Corp. and PetroChina Co. each own 15 percent, respectively, while the remaining 5 percent is held by Korea Gas Corp.
Canada gained an edge over the U.S. LNG sector after China slapped tariffs on American gas last month. Canadian producers also hold a geographic advantage because it’s an eight-day tanker journey from British Columbia to Tokyo, versus 20 days at sea for Louisiana cargoes.
Western Canada “is closer to 75 percent of the global LNG market in Asia than any other non-Asian supplier,” Madeline Jowdy, senior director of global gas and LNG at S&P Global Platts in New York, said in an email.
(Updates with partners’ formal approval in second paragraph.)
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Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
