This Day In Clarkland...When Will We Be Chad?

BeenCheated
BeenMistreatedVille



From Bloomberg:

Exxon Mobil Corp. was ordered to pay a record $74 billion fine in Chad for underpaying royalties in the central African nation where the company has been drilling for 15 years, according to a court document...

{snip}

....The two other companies named in the case are Chevron Corp. and Malaysia’s state-owned Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas)....


No word yet whether our very own NatGas Minister Mr. Coleman has plans to get out in front of this one for Petronas this time around.

Because, after all, last Friday, there was a last time.

OK?


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Tip O' The Toque to Grant G, in the comments to a previous thread.
Header/Sub-Header-induced presque-vuish earworm?....This!


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This Day In Clarkland...Is The Wizardry Worried?

FollowTheGoldbrickers'
RoadVille


I mean, normally, they leave the slagging of a certain 'for real' journalist to their horses.

But today, well, this...

Link

Regardless, if you are a journalist not named Mackin covering British Columbia politics, whatever you do...

Do not pay attention to that man behind the curtain!

Or, perhaps more to the point...

Make sure the citizenry doesn't.

Pay attention, I mean.


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Does It Matter That The BC Liberal Government Denied Petronas' Intention To Sell PNWLNG Before...

...Petronas Did?

It began, in the wake of the FedLib condition-laden approval of Petronas' $27 (or is it $36?) billion dollar Pacific Northwest Liquid Natural Gas project, with a report from Reuters that the Malaysian oil and gas company was considering selling the thing, off.

Here is the lede from that Reuters' piece:

Malaysian state oil firm Petroliam Nasional Bhd is considering selling its majority stake in a $27 billion Canadian liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, three people familiar with the matter said this week...


Soon thereafter the pushback began. Coming a bit late to that party, the first bit I saw was a short piece from the Canadian Press published on the MoCo site last Saturday morning, October 1st, that began thusly:

Malaysian state-owned oil firm Petronas says it's not considering selling its stake in a proposed multibillion-dollar liquefied natural gas export terminal in B.C.

The company issued a statement yesterday saying it "categorically denies" allegations made in a news report that selling its stake in the Pacific NorthWest LNG project was up for consideration...


 Which is all fine and good, as far as it goes.

But then Grant G., who has been indefatigable in digging into to all things LNG here in British Columbia, mentioned that he couldn't find the press release from Petronas  pertaining to this matter.

So I started sniffing around further and saw a most interesting piece written by Martin MacMahon acknowledging an assist form the CP that had been published on the CKWX 1130 site the day BEFORE, Friday Sept 30th:

What was interesting about Mr. MacMahon's piece?

Well, firstly, there was this:

Petronas has told the province it has no plans to sell its stake in the Pacific Northwest LNG project.

This follows a report from Reuters indicating the Malaysian energy company is looking to get out of the $36-billion proposal.

Petronas has reassured the province the report isn’t true, according to the ministry of natural gas, responding to our questions after the release of this report citing three anonymous sources...


And, secondly, right at the end, there was this:

...The provincial government says it expected Petronas to issue a statement...


Gosh, that's interesting,  I thought.

It was almost as if our very fine NatGas Ministry was the tail wagging the Petronasian dog.

So I contacted Mr. MacMahon via the Twittmachine Saturday evening and he told me that it was he who had asked the provincial government's NatGas Ministry about the story (i.e. not the other way around).

Now, as Grant G noted, what Mr. MacMahon had to say was backed by the fact that the NatGas Minister himself, Mr. Rich Coleman was on CKNW's 1:00pm Friday newscast saying that Petronas had told him they were not planning to sell.

Hmmmmmm...

Given all that I also asked Mr. MacMahon, if he himself had actually seen a statement from Petronas to that effect?

Mr. MacMahon responded that it was his colleague Renee Bernard at WX who had written the follow-up story on Petronas' denial statement that was published late Friday night. Here are the pertinent bits from Ms. Bernard's story:

The Malaysian state-owned oil firm Petronas denies a report that the company was considering selling its stake in a multibillion-dollar liquefied natural gas project in BC.

A statement from Petronas says it remains committed to working with its partners following a conditional approval from the federal government for the proposed Pacific NorthWest LNG project...

{snip}

...BC’s Ministry of Natural Gas Development previously said in an email that it spoke with Petronas and was reassured about the company’s involvement in the proposed LNG export terminal...


After reading that I attempted to call Ms. Bernard, also via the Twittmachine, to ask her if she had actually seen Petronas statement of denial. She didn't get back to me.

At the same time I went back and asked Mr. MacMahon if he, himself, had contacted Petronas. At this point Mr. MacMahon also stopped responding.

So.

Where was this post NatGas Ministry statement of denial from Petronas that Ms. Bernard and numerous other writers of from numerous other proMedia, referred to in the avalanche of no sale stories that followed?

Was it on the Petronas website?

Nope (and it still isn't, although a statement of glee re: the  FedLib approval sure as heckfire is).


But, while casting around on Saturday I did notice the following, also on the Twittmachine:

So.

Who posted this on Twitter?

Turns out it was a very fine local fellow named Spencer Sproule whose name Grant G. remembered from a two year old Vaughn Palmer article in the VSun:

..."Petronas and its partners in the Pacific Northwest LNG project continue to review the economic viability of the project which, in time of declining oil prices, presents challenges," said the release issued over the name of Spencer Sproule, the former B.C. Liberal staffer now employed as senior adviser for corporate affairs on the project...


And when David Schrek asked the good Mr. Sproule on Saturday why, if the denial statement was authentic, it was not on the Petronas website, Mr. Sproule responded that it was issued by Petronas Media Relations and that it was sent to 'any media that requested it'.

Imagine that!

****

So.

Coming back to the question in the header to this post...

Does it actually matter that it was the BC Liberal government and Rich Coleman who got out in front of the denial story in a  fast and furious fashion that was then back-ended by at least one very fine local fellow with PNWLNG and BCL ties?

Well...

Consider this.

Who loses if Petronas sells?

Or, put another way, who really loses prior to May 2017 (and might have a really hard time 're-negotiating') if there is even a reasonable public perception that Petronas might sell?

I'll be back to explore those questions later but, in the meantime, feel free to fire away in the comments.


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The Felices Are (Still) Coming!

Tonight the Brothers Felice are in Nashville playing the High Watt.

And there is absolutely no truth to the non-existent rumour that, after they ambled over to 3rd Man to check on sales of their latest, that little big brother Ian (the guitar player) stabbed big little brother James (the accordian player and Whiskey vocalist) with a plastic salad fork at the Peg Leg Porker Barbeque hut for eating, well...

Salad

****

In other tour news, opener Aaron Lee Tasjan has the night off in his hometown which is fair enough, I guess, but he sure as heckfire better not wander off for a nighttime stroll up the Grouse Grind when the circus comes to Lotusland in a couple of weeks.

OK?


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This Day In PetronasLand....Deny, Deny, Deny.

IsBigRichStill
WinningVille?

 ______

Please see Updates at bottom of post and a most interesting reader-driven discussion in the comment thread

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Apparently, there will be no sale of the non-existent Sparkle Pony factory.

At least, it would appear, not before May of 2017:

Malaysian state-owned oil firm Petronas says it's not considering selling its stake in a proposed multibillion-dollar liquefied natural gas export terminal in B.C.

The company issued a statement yesterday (Friday Sept 30, 2016) saying it "categorically denies" allegations made in a news report that selling its stake in the Pacific NorthWest LNG project was up for consideration...


What's this apparent turnabout all about this time Alfie?

Well.

This.


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Lede, above, from a CP report published on MoCo.ca
Update, Saturday afternoon: Grant G of the SGoods and I are having a little trouble finding Petronas' own, actual 'categorical denial' of sale consideration (see comments)...Has anybody seen it/got it (i.e. separate from 'news' reports saying that it has made said statement)?
Updatier, Sunday morning: I heard from Martin MacMahon of CKWX on the Twittmachine who said that the NatGas Ministry of prov. gov't gave him the heads-up that Petronas was denying intentions to sell PNWLNG before a media release from Petronas. The latter was described in a follow-up story by WX's Renee Bernard...Last night I asked Mr. MacMahon a follow-up about whether he actually asked Petronas for a comment before he ran his story. I also  asked Ms. Bernard if she actually saw a statement from Petronas and if it was the same one being trumpeted on the Twitmachine by a PNWLG PRish person with close ties to the BCL Party. Neither Mr. MacMahon nor Ms. Bernard has gotten back to me as of 8:00am Sunday...You can read all about this in the comments...I'll have a follow-up post later. 
Updatiest, Sunday Dinnertime...Have day job work week prep to attend to...Will try to follow-up soon.

This Friday In Clarkland...The Snubbering.

TheReverseSally
FieldVille


So, why, exactly did the Haida tell our fine premier to stay home today?

Some problem with that cheque for a study for a school that is not hers to build?

Worried about another mega-project that would turn out to be equivalent of eating iron filings?

Well, actually, as Richard Zussman of the MoCo tells us, it was something much bigger:

After a week of trailing the royal couple, B.C. Premier Christy Clark was asked by the Haida Nation not to come to Friday's event.

The community is opposed to the controversial Pacific NorthWest LNG project that received approval from the federal government this week.

"We have some outstanding issues with the premier in regards to a lot of issues. We believe the respectful thing to do would be to resolve those issues before coming in on the heels of the Royals," said Peter Lantin, president of the Haida Nation.

"If you want to deal with the real issues, deal with them in real time and not on a day that is so important to us."...


And how did our fine Premier respond?

Well, pretty much just as you might have expected:

...The premier's office said Clark called Lantin on Wednesday and told him she was not going to be able to come to Haida Gwaii because of her gruelling schedule, not because she was asked not to come....

Imagine that!


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This Day In Lotusland...What's a BC/Fed Lib Tag Team Approval Really Worth?

Makin'MoneyFor
MalaysiaVille


Well, well, well....

Looks like that big approval announcement by the Clarklandians and the Feds, no doubt brokered, at least in part, by Marky Mark and the KloutKlub, was just what the fine folks from Petronas were waiting for according to Reuters:

Malaysian state oil firm Petroliam Nasional Bhd is considering selling its majority stake in a $27-billion Canadian liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, three people familiar with the matter said this week...


Gosh.

Who are the real rubes now?


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Thanks to reader SH for the heads-up.


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These Days In Clarkland...Who's Dusting Now?

SomeHousesAreCleanerThan
OthersVille


So.

According to Mikey Mike of The Province, our fine Premier has said that the still to be birthed deal with Petronas is done like dinner.

Or the dusting.

Or the finest of the fine dust of the angels.

Or some such thing:

...“We have signed the agreement,” Clark said. “It is set. It is done and dusted.”...


Which sure does sound good and emphatically done.

But then Mikey Mike, catching up with the idiots blogging in their PJ's, noted what Big Rich had to say before he donned his Darth Vader mask for the day:

...Coleman was recently quoted in a Business in Vancouver magazine article as saying he would “quite likely” meet with the project’s backers to “restart our discussions in and around our project development agreement.”

Why would Coleman reopen a deal that critics had already said was too sweet for the companies?

“Because the price of gas in Asia right now is so cheap,” he said. “The numbers have really got to be tightened down.”...


Now, in the 'credit where credit' is due department, that is column writing well done.

And if it had ended right there Mikey would have gotten a gold star.

Too bad he then wrote this:

...Whether the Clark government does a taxation limbo dance just to deliver at least one LNG project remains to be seen.

For now, Clark is clearly thrilled that she at least has one approved project to show for all her promises in the last election, with another election quickly approaching...


Why does this bug me?

Because past performance indicates what is very likely really going to happen, not to mention the fact that Mr. Smyth is tacitly admitting that, around here at least, flack-hackery beats substance every time.

Now, why is that I wonder?


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And, of course, I'm pretty sure somebody, maybe somebody really obvious who is not Harvey O, will soon let us know how big a political win this all is for the Clarklandian wizardry and their KloutKlub-assisted federal enablers even though not long ago they also wrote that the complete lack of real actual sparkle ponies in our midst despite all the promises last time doesn't really matter because of the booming economy....errrrr...real estate bubble.



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This Week In Clarkland: The Iron Boo Bird.

Where'sPreston
NowVille


The Royals came to town.

And the locals booed one of their own.

Personally, I do not think of the Monarchist League as being stuffed to the gills with rabid Dipper lovers and the poors.

Gosh.

What would Ms. Thatcher think?

"...I had the privilege of seeing Margaret Thatcher in action when I lived in Britain, as a student for a year. She is a woman who endured the most withering kinds of criticism any woman, anyone, in politics in the last 50 years has endured. But she never ever waivered. She stuck to her guns, every single day. She pulled that country back from the brink, I would argue, by sheer of will. Everyone. Around the world knew what Margaret Thatcher stood for..."

CClark

April, 2013

Hmmmmmm....

That payback thing, especially when it is larded up with academic tourism sauce and rancid political expediency chutney, sure is something, eh?


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This Day In Clarkland: How Many More Farms...

...Will Big Rich Sell?

Grant G. has the real story behind the latest  developments down at the Sparkle Pony Farm:

...Coleman said it is “quite likely” that he would meet in October with the president of Petronas in Malaysia and the presidents of the four minority partners to “restart our discussions in and around our project development agreement (PDA).”...

{snip}

Someone needs to ask Rich Coleman what the hell is going on, ask him how you restart talks on a PDA enshrined by legislation....ask Rich Coleman when will the BC Liberal sellout government bring forth a new PDA?..I won't hold my breath waiting for Keith Baldrey or Michael Smyth to ask to tough questions...

Lastly....I said it many many times..."The only way Petronas will build an LNG plant is if we pay them to take the gas"...


Indeed.

And did you see how much the Feds have downgraded Big Rich's most sparkly 'jobs numbers' with their pay-to-play announcement yesterday?

Sheesh.


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The Real Ones To Watch Tonight.

AYellowerShadeOfPale
JournalismFailingVille


Me?

I won't really be watching what Mr. Trump and Ms. Clinton do or say because we already pretty much know what that will go (i.e. bombast vs. policy).

Instead, I will be watching the proMedia afterwards.

Why?

Well, how about we let Krugzilla explain...

"...If the media report on the debates the way they did in 2000 – if substance is replaced by descriptions of Clinton’s facial expressions, her sighs, or how she “comes across,” while downplaying Trump’s raw lies, say hello to the Trump White House. And history will not forgive the people who made it possible..."


OK?

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Monday afternoon update...Bloomberg says it is going to fact-check on-screen...I think I just found my network of real time choicyness...

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If We Had Yearly Elections Would We Have A Dipper Government Run By The BC Liberals?

BeCarefulWhatYouThinkYouAre
WishingForVille


First, there was the sloppily enacted Dipper-driven housing policy.

And now, as force-fed both-siderist Mikey-Mike of The Province notes, it's education and schools 'n stuff:

...Last week, B.C. Education Minister Mike Bernier said the government would drop a controversial 95-per-cent school-occupancy target before approving costly seismic upgrades.

“Student safety is our top priority,” Bernier said, while repeating that the Liberal government is committed to “upgrading or replacing all high-risk schools.”...


All of which seems great and all.

Except, of course, all of the Clarklandians announcements are little more than limited hangouts designed to generate media deflector spike-spin rather than actually fix a problem created by longstanding BC Liberal party policy.

And.

As noted by Dermod Travis of Integrity BC and Norm Farrell of In-Sights, the 'Cronification of Everything' continues unabated.

OK?


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The Felice Brothers Are (Still) Coming!

Simply put, this might be one of the most powerful bits of aural melancholia that I have ever heard.

And, if I hadn't stumbled across this recently, I might be a little worried for all that seems to flow right through young Ian into his fingers and voice, unadorned and unfiltered.



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The Brothers Felice and friends, including Tom Sniderincandationish Aaron Lee Tasjan, are coming to Lotusland Friday Oct 14th at the Cobalt.


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Something Important Is About To Happen Above Site C That Nobody Knows About

ThereIsA
ClubVille


Alison of Creekside has the story.

Here is her lede:

In two days, the deadline for public input into BC Hydro's request to log crown land slated for Provincial Park status above the Site C dam will close.

So why are you only just now hearing about this on a blog? Good question...



Go read it all and act if you feel that due process still matters around here.


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The Boss, He Be Coming In Longform Linear Type.

They'llMeetNeathThatGiantExxonSign
ThatBringsThisFairCityLightVille


The autobiography, all 500 pages of it, will be released next Tuesday, just in time for a certain birthday if any of my kids are paying attention.

And the early reviews are strong.

Me, I particularly like the following passage from Richard Ford in The Times:

...It helps that Springsteen can write — not just life-­imprinting song lyrics but good, solid prose that travels all the way to the right margin. I mean, you’d think a guy who wrote “Spanish Johnny drove in from the underworld last night / With bruised arms and broken rhythm and a beat-up old Buick . . .” could navigate his way around a complete and creditable American sentence. And you’d be right. Oh, there are a few gassy bits here and there, a jot too much couch-inspired hooey about the “terrain inside my own head.” A tad more rock ’n’ roll highfalutin than this reader really needs — though the Bruce enthusiasts down in Sea-Clift won’t agree with me. No way. But nothing in “Born to Run” rings to me as unmeant or punch-pulling. If anything, Springsteen wants credit for telling it the way it really is and was. And like a fabled Springsteen concert — always notable for its deck-clearing thoroughness — “Born to Run” achieves the sensation that all the relevant questions have been answered by the time the lights are turned out. He delivers the story of Bruce — in digestibly short chapters — via an informally steadfast Jersey plainspeak that’s worked and deftly detailed and intimate with its readers — cleareyed enough to say what it means when it has hard stories to tell, yet supple enough to rise to occasions requiring eloquence — sometimes rather pleasingly subsiding into the syntax and rhythms of a Bruce Springsteen song: “So we all made do,” he writes about his parents’ abrupt move from Freehold to California, in 1969, leaving him behind. “My sister vanished into ‘Cowtown’ — the South Jersey hinterlands — and I pretended none of it really mattered. You were on your own — now and forever. This sealed it. Plus, a part of me was truly glad for them, for my dad. Get out, Pops! Out of this [expletive] dump.”...


And from that, the making of the following which is, maybe I guess, the flipside of Jungleland:


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Oh, and just so you know...The review by David Brooks in The Atlantic is as just as unctuous and atrocious as you would predict it to be...You have been warned. 

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