Thursday, July 23, 2015

This Day In Clarkland...Drawing The (Invisible?) Line On LNG Concessions.

There'sNoCutOutLikeABreathlessBusinessPress
CutOutVille


Lotulandian media commentator/cut-and-paster nonpareil, Mr. Norman Spector has, apparently, read a sparkle pony-papered puff-piece by Claudia Cattaneo in the Financial Post and has the following to tell the Twitterverse:



But what is Mr. Spector's conclusion based on?

Well, by squinting, hard, at the actual piece stormin' Norm points us to,  I believe these are the relevant passages:

...In this age of energy-infrastructure bashing, aboriginal unrest, high environmental expectations, low oil and gas prices, the B.C. government's ratification of the first LNG project is historic.

"We believe we have arrived at a balanced approach that ensures we represent a competitive jurisdiction where proponents can invest and derive a fair rate of return, while at the same time ensuring that British Columbians who own the resource that lies at the heart of this industry receive a fair return for granting access to that resource, " B.C. Finance Minister Michael de Jong said in an interview...

{snip}

...The BC LNG Alliance, a lobby group that represents major multinationals and state-controlled companies that are proposing as many as 20 LNG plants, has been lobbying for more breaks, including the province's sales tax.

Mr. De Jong (sic) said the government is not prepared to consider such relief...


Now.

We all know how much and how often Cookie Dough Mike's words are actually backed by his subsequent deeds and actions.

And as for lobby groups with bags of money and contracts to dole out to wizards and pols when they are not in government?

The Clarklandian braintrust would never, ever listen to/side with /join-up with the likes of them.

Right?


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Why a sparkle pony-papered puff-piece that reads like it was ghostwritten by a passel of PAB-botians?....Well, if you go read the actual FiPo piece you will see that it contains no details/specifics of what was given away by the Clarklandians (and the Harperians, btw) and it is filled to bursting with all those made-up 'investment' numbers that are driving Grant G crazy...And for good reason...To wit...Why is it, exactly, that the much lower numbers  in Brent Jang's December 2014 piece in the Globe and Mail are never cited vs. those magical US$36B/Cdn$46B numbers that are constantly pumped by the pom-pom wavers?


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5 comments:

Lew said...

In fact, Pacific Northwest LNG’s own website says the investment will be $11 billion, with another $8 billion for product delivery infrastructure, including the pipeline. It sure isn’t the proponent spouting the $46 billion number.

I listened to Mike Smyth interviewing BC Liberal MLA Greg Kyllo about the deal on ‘NW yesterday and despite Kyllo’s obvious PAB-installed audio system, Smyth actually outdid him in promoting the deal. Neither of them explained what actual revenue source components would make up the $8.9 billion that is supposed to flow into government coffers from the deal in the next decade, or when the first dollar would actually float our way. They were both completely blinded by the dust kicked up by the sparkle pony stampede. Only one of them should be expected to be found in that condition.

North Van's Grumps said...

Pacific NorthWest LNG

Grant G said...

Indeed..The investment $dollar figure is wrong...Remember this, it happened in 2013, to this day that 2013 LIE still exists, in fact it has grown....Reported by the CBC

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"Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrived in Bali for an Asia-Pacific leaders' summit Sunday bearing what could be called a $36-billion vote of confidence from Malaysia's state-owned oil and gas company.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mohd Najib sprung the "gargantuan" investment figure during a joint availability with Harper in Putrajaya, saying Malaysia's state-owned oil and gas company Petronas has committed to construction of a liquid natural gas plant in British Columbia and the pipeline to feed it.

"I'm told that this is the largest direct foreign investment in Canada by any country," Najib said, flanked by Harper following a formal welcoming ceremony at a sprawling new government precinct outside the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.


Najib called it a "significant landmark decision" by Petronas, which last year spent more than $5 billion buying Alberta-based Progress Energy Inc.


The Petronas takeover, and a bigger oil patch buyout by China's state-owned CNOOC, prompted months of hand-wringing by the Harper government. It approved the deals late last year but at the same time introduced new rules that permit majority takeovers of Canadian companies by state-owned enterprises only in the most exceptional circumstances.

The policy change put a major chill on direct foreign investment in Canada by so-called SOEs, and analysts have recently begun questioning whether the Conservative policy shift is scaring off much-needed foreign capital.

Najib rode to Harper's defence Sunday, calling the promised Petronas infrastructure investment a testament "to the level of confidence we have in the policies of the Canadian government."


Harper's reaction to the news was almost muted, by contrast.


"Look, we view the Petronas investments very positively and all the indications I have is that Petronas is looking at further investment," said the prime minister.


"The government of Canada is very excited about that possibility, as are all those I've talked to in the energy sector."


However the Prime Minister's Office declined to provide any details of the promised $36 billion investment, referring reporters to Petronas for details. Provincial officials in B.C. had spoken in June of a $19 billion LNG plant and pipeline investment by Petronas,.....

and it wasn't clear Sunday where the whopping new total comes from.


Both Najib and Harper flew with their separate delegations to Indonesia following the Sunday morning meeting in Malaysia.

Regardless, the announcement provides Harper a much-needed shot in the arm as he brings Canada's trade and investment message to Bali."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/harper-arrives-at-apec-with-malaysian-promise-to-invest-36b-1.1927464

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More details here..

http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.ca/2015/07/british-columbia-liberal-government-are.html

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Anonymous said...

us or cdn
1 to 1.31

Anonymous said...

The BC LNG Alliance came out with their crapola AFTER the deal was ratified in the BC legislature... BCLNGA was merely providing cover for the BC Liberals.

Imagine for a moment that you are a BC Liberal cabinet minister and you have just been grossly out negotiated. You have taken the agreement and cackled to the world that this slimy piece of chicken shit is the golden egg of destiny - everybody with an internet connection knows otherwise - but densely onwards you cowardly carry the carrion.

In steps BCLNGA saying: Give us MORE!

Balancing bravely between absurdity and hyperbole the pudgy politicos cry: MORE!? We have given you a fair and historic share of our limited legacy - There is no more.

And the citizenry rejoiced... the asshats were too drunk on there 'victory' to pawn what little was left.