Canada's Pieridae to evaluate options to support proposed LNG plant

Canadian energy company Pieridae Energy Ltd will evaluate options for its proposed Goldboro LNG export plant in Nova Scotia, as pandemic-led disruptions have made the current version of the project impractical.

The company said it had not been able to meet the key conditions necessary to make a final investment decision on the project.

It did not detail the alternatives it was exploring, but said there was still robust demand for the super chilled fuel from Europe and high global LNG prices.

"It became apparent that cost pressures and time constraints due to COVID-19 have made building the current version of the LNG Project impractical," Pieridae said.

The pandemic had slashed demand for the fuel, forcing companies to delay final investment decisions on various LNG projects and hold back on capital spending in the uncertain environment.

Pieridae is one of more than a dozen North American LNG developers that have repeatedly pushed back decisions to start construction primarily due to a lack of long-term deals needed to finance the multi-billion dollar facilities.

Pieridae, however, has a 20-year agreement to sell the LNG from Goldboro's first liquefaction train - about 5.2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), or 0.68 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas - to German utility Uniper SE.

Pieridae has said engineering firm Bechtel Corp plans to deliver a fixed-price proposal to build the plant by the end of May. The project would employ about 3,500 workers during peak construction.

(Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru and Scott DiSavino in New York; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

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