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LNG industry ramps up: Langley's MLA

Local longtime MLA Rich Coleman was back at the Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce last week to talk about liquified natural gas.

Coleman, deputy premier and minister for natural gas, has used his annual speech to the chamber to talk about LNG before, including during his 2012 speech when the government was still just starting out with its ambitious policy.

There are now seven companies working on LNG plant projects, Coleman told the Chamber members.

He pointed to the main recipients of natural gas, China, Japan, South Korea, and India.

China in particular needs natural gas to reduce its dependence on coal and to bring down its staggering levels of air pollution, Coleman noted.

“Their companies are here investing because they need the gas,” Coleman said.

Coleman did say that Canada is not the only place that is trying to get into the lucrative market.

“We’re in competition globally for this,” he said.

He said B.C. has several advantages, including being relatively closer to Asia than many of the competitors, and the cool weather of northern B.C.

Coleman said that because of the lower temperatures, it costs less to cool and compress the gas down to a liquid form, compared to comparable operations planned for Australia.

One of the major messages of Coleman’s talk was that while northern B.C. is where the gas will be drilled and shipped from, the Lower Mainland has a part to play.

There is a firm in Langley that builds LNG gauges, Coleman said, and he also mentioned Langley’s Britco Structures, which manufactures modular housing and offices for oil fields and gas drilling sites.

The Lower Mainland receives about 55.5 per cent of resource-based jobs in B.C., Coleman said.



Matthew Claxton

About the Author: Matthew Claxton

Raised in Langley, as a journalist today I focus on local politics, crime and homelessness.
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