Petronas Forges Ahead In Canada

Malaysia is number one in Canada.    Following the announcement of the Petronas Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Project worth a staggering CAD36 billion, it has been confirmed by the Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Najib Razak, that Malaysia is now the largest foreign direct investor in Canada. Malaysian PM, Najib Razak, and Canadian PM, Stephen Harper shook hands on the CAD36 billion deal image: cba.ca Prime Minister Najib was talking after a close door meeting with the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, who was in Malaysia earlier this week on a working visit. The Malaysian PM said that he was pleased that the Canadian government had approved the earlier CAD5 billion investment into Progress Energy Canada, which will become the operating company for the LNG project. Najib added, "We are confident in the policies of the Canadian government and can see a wealth of opportunities in helping open the country's energy sector to new opportunities. There is a 30 year timeline for the CAD36 billion Canadian dollar investment and Petronas is very confident about this decision."

Progress Energy, the subsidiary of Petronas, which is a Government Linked Corporation (GLC) in Malaysia, will undertake the Pacific Northwest LNG Project, as it is known. This project has been designed to capitalise on the increased demand for CNG and LNG in Asia by tapping into the abundant supplies of landlocked natural gas largely in Canada's midwest. Canada has massive reserves of oil shales and tight gas, both of which are now exploitable due to advances in extraction techniques and sustainable higher prices for the products. However, there are many critics of the exploitation of these reserves as techniques are seen to be environmentally unfriendly and, of course, the burning of the reserves add to the ever growing problem of green house gas build up. Harper said that the huge investment from Petronas was seen as a positive indication that the oil giant would make further investments in Canada in the future. He added "We are really excited about the possibility, both in the distribution sector and for the future where we have also had talks on the energy production sector."