Tag: Coastal GasLink

PETRONAS Pipeline Interest 11

~ The Koboi Project

To understand the escalating pipeline conflict between the Wet’suwet’en First Nation land defenders and Coastal GasLink, it is necessary to trace the line of financial interests behind this CAD $6.2-billion investment. According to CTV News on December 26, 2019 TC Energy announced the sale of a 65% share of this pipeline project to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and Alberta Investment Management Corporation (on behalf a number of its clients). In the oil and gas industry, pipeline infrastructure, which is located between extraction facilities and refineries/ export terminals, are referred to as the the ‘midstream’. Coastal GasLink is, in fact, the 3rd Oil ‘midstream’ Canadian infrastructure project that Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) has invested in. You could say that the Canadian oil and gas industry has delegated the most contentious aspect of the industry, the aspect that involves traversing First Nations territory, to KKR. So who are they?

Well, as Joyce Nelson informs us, KKR is a Wall Street ‘private equity’ firm with Canadian headquarters in Calgary. It is a massive financial entity that is in the business of investing in companies that are facing difficult scenarios, eventually re-selling the equity, to make large profits. In Western Canada KKR now owns the Encana Corp. natural gas pipeline and also has a stake in SemCams Midstream, which owns and operates 700 miles of natural gas pipelines in partnership with Energy Transfer. Energy Transfer is the company that, notoriously, subdued indigenous protesters from at the Standing Rock reservation in the U.S. in 2016 by marshalling effective state-supported repression.

In short, as nelson notes, “KKR not only has a primary position in the midstream natural gas industry of Western Canada, it also has scandalously partnered with a company well-versed in stopping indigenous protests”. Further, as if to underscore its access to the apparatus of the state, KKR has appointed retired four-star U.S. general and former director of the CIA, General David Petraeus as chair of KKR Global Initiative, its own in house intelligence agency.

Indeed, in the conflict over Coastal GasLink’s passage across unceded Wet’suwet’en territory, the hereditary Chiefs of the Gilseyhu, Laksilyu, Tsayu, Laksamshu, Gitdumdenet bands and their supporters are valiantly facing-off against the mighty governments of BC and Canada, as well as the combined corporate interests of TC Energy Corp, LNG Canada (Shell, Petronas, PetroChina, Mitsubishi Corp, Kogas Canada), Alberta Investment Management Corporation, as well as those of the insidiously tentacular Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

Image https://www.foxnews.com/politics/petraeus-resigns-after-affair-with-biographer-turned-up-in-fbi-probe-fox-news-confirms

https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/tc-energy-to-sell-a-65-per-cent-equity-interest-in-coastal-gaslink-pipeline-1.4744497

https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/02/12/wall-street-invading-wetsuweten-territory/

PETRONAS Pipeline Interest 8

~ The Koboi Project

According to the CBC, 6 people were arrested by the RCMP on Feb 06, 2020 pursuant to an injunction against those blocking construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territory in northern B.C. Wet’suwet’en Nation hereditary Chief Na’Moks is reported to have said, “They came in with armed forces to remove peaceful people that are doing the right thing at the right time for the right reasons. We’re protecting the land, the air, the water. Our rights and title, our authority as hereditary chiefs. And we’re exercising our jurisdiction … We’ve never ceded nor surrendered our lands. We’ve never signed a treaty. We are the law of the land, we are free people and I will go to my territories.”

The injunction which was issued by the BC Supreme Court, and the consequent arrests, seem to be at odds with Bill 41 of the BC legislature which embraces the UN Declaration  on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and which, as summarized by West Coast Environmental Law, “requires the government to prepare an implementation and action plan in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous people” Most significantly, this act also seems to recognize the authority of Indigenous governing bodies, like the hereditary chiefs that Chief Na’Moks refers to above, which stand outside the ambit of the Indian Act.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, is reported to have said “It’s an absolute outrage and deeply frustrating that the RCMP is acting in the capacity of a goon squad on behalf of business and industry”. This is where Malaysia’s premier Crown corporation PETRONAS is implicated as one of the corporations with a significant interest in seeing the pipeline implemented, with investments at both ends of it (upstream and down.)

Image https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/wetsuweten-arrests-coastal-gaslink-pipeline-1.5454007

https://www.wcel.org/blog/bill-41-new-law-uphold-indigenous-rights-in-bc

https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html

PETRONAS Pipeline Interest 7

~ The Koboi Project

The Coastal Gaslink pipeline infrastructure that will connect the PETRONAS’ North Montney gas fields to the LNG Canada export terminal on BC’s West Coast must  pass through Wet’suwet’en territory and the Wet’suwet’en are objecting and resisting on the basis of Aboriginal title. In Delgamuukw v. British Columbia (1977) the Supreme Court of Canada court defined Aboriginal title as Indigenous peoples’ exclusive right to the land, and affirmed that such title is recognized as an “existing aboriginal right” in s.35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. The Canadian Encyclopedia notes however that, such rights as are recognized and affirmed are, however, not absolute and that Government regulation can infringe upon these if it meets the test of justification under s. 35(1). 

Economic development through agriculture, mining, forestry and hydroelectric power, as well as the related building of infrastructure and settlement of foreign populations, are held to be valid legislative objectives that satisfy the justification requirement.  These legislative objectives are, nevertheless, subject to accommodation of the aboriginal peoples’ interests in accordance with the honour and good faith of the Crown. Such accommodation of “aboriginal title” entails notifying and consulting aboriginal peoples with respect to the development of the affected territory, as well as providing fair compensation.

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/delgamuukw-case

https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/1569/index.do

https://qweri.lexum.com/w/calegis/schedule-b-to-the-canada-act-1982-uk-1982-c-11-en#!fragment/sec35subsec1

PETRONAS’ Pipeline Interest 2

~ The Koboi Project

According to a post on the UNIST’OT’EN website Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs have submitted a formal request to the United Nations to monitor RCMP (police), government and Coastal GasLink (CGL) actions on their traditional, unceded territory. This request follows the directive from the UN Committee on Racial Discrimination (CERD) requiring Canada to halt the pipeline project and withdraw RCMP from our territory in order to avoid further violations of Wet’suwet’en, constitutional, and international law. This submission reveals the Chiefs’ perception of the imminent threat posed by the RCMP and security forces currently surrounding Wet’suwet’en villages and lands.

As I have noted before Malaysia’s PETRONAS crown corporation holds a 25% stake in LNG Canada’s Kitimat development which is totally dependant on this CGL pipeline. This pipeline is intended to transport natural gas from Dawson Creek to Kitimat and much of this gas will come from PETRONAS’ own North Montney fields. As noted in the Globe and Mail, the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination says that it is imperative that all affected First Nations give free, prior and informed consent before the pipeline proceeds. So once again, the interests of the exemplary Malaysian bumiputra (indigenous) led enterprise is contrary to the those of a group of indigenous people from British Columbia.

https://unistoten.camp/unintervention/

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-wetsuweten-coastal-gaslink-pipeline-rcmp-explainer/

PETRONAS’ Pipeline Interest 1

~ The Koboi Project
petronas

Malaysia’s PETRONAS crown corporation holds a 25% stake in LNG Canada’s CAD $ 40 billion project in Kitimat. This massive development is dependant on the Coastal GasLink pipeline that TransCanada is building to transport the natural gas from Dawson Creek to Kitimat. To realize the extent of PETRONAS’ interest in the completion of this pipeline, it is important to understand that much of the natural gas that will flow to Kitimat through the pipeline will come from PETRONAS’ own North Montney fields. While this pipeline has been approved by the B.C. and federal governments, it has been criticized by Amnesty International, the B.C.’s Human Rights Commission and the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. As noted in the Globe and Mail, the UN committee says that it is imperative that all affected First Nations give free, prior and informed consent before the pipeline proceeds. So once again, the interests of the exemplary Malaysian bumiputra (indigenous) led enterprise is contrary to the those of a group of indigenous people from British Columbia.

Although there are reportedly signed benefit with most of First Nations involved in the passage of the pipeline, there is opposition from the Wet’suwet’en Nation who have built the Unist’ot’en healing camp in its path. As explained in the Globe and Mail, the opposition to the pipeline “hinges on an old question many First Nations in Canada face: Whether authority over resource development lies with elected band councils, hereditary leaders or both. Five elected Wet’suwet’en band councils, whose authority is coded in the federal Indian Act, signed agreements with Coastal GasLink, along with 15 other B.C. elected band councils that accepted the pipeline. But the Wet’suwet’en also have a system of five matrilineal clans and 13 houses, each of which has at least one hereditary chief. Together the chiefs oversee traditional territories that, like many First Nations lands in B.C., were never ceded by treaty. Two house chiefs supported the pipeline, only to have their titles stripped by other chiefs. Eight of the house chiefs say the risk of environmental damage to the land is too great to allow the pipeline, and are part of the movement against it.”

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-wetsuweten-coastal-gaslink-pipeline-rcmp-explainer/

http://www.coastalgaslink.com/

Vaughn Palmer: NDP celebrates Petronas return, but LNG Canada hurdles remain

PETRONAS Upstream and Down

~ The Koboi Project

gas productionOn March 25 2019 the BC NDP government passed a law conceding tax exemptions and commitments to low electricity prices to the industry. The NDP has, despite challenging the previous Liberals government on their concessions to the PETRONAS Lelu Island LNG  initiative, in fact often foreshadowed their present pro-LNG position. According to Carol Linnitt  this NDP concession amounts to an incentive package worth an estimated $5.35 billion (I presume this is calculated over the 40 year accounting period being used in appraising this development) to the LNG Canada consortium of which PETRONAS itself is a 25% stake-holder.

Although PETRONAS’ own $36-billion Pacific NorthWest LNG processing and shipping terminal on Lelu Island was aborted in the face of Lax Kwa’laams opposition and a collapsing market, this Malaysian crown corporation has persisted with its interest in downstream LNG development in British Columbia. Upstream, PETRONAS is presently one of  the largest producers of natural gas in the province and, according to Ben Parfitt, it is the “the single-largest subsurface rights holder of natural gas assets in Northeast B.C.” While PETRONAS is well set for prominence both upstream and downstream in the BC LNG industry it, there is a blockage for them midstream. Development of the connecting Coastal Gaslink pipeline has been retarded by determined resistance from the Wet’suwet’en First Nation, through whose territory in must pass.

Image Modified from: https://www.bcogc.ca/node/15405/download

https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/lng-deal-not-good-for-b-c-ndp-leader-says-as-legislation-introduced-1.1999376

https://thenarwhal.ca/6-awkward-realities-behind-b-c-s-big-lng-giveaway/

https://thenarwhal.ca/the-resource-b-c-is-piping-to-alberta-that-nobody-is-talking-about/

http://www.coastalgaslink.com/

PETRONAS Canada

~ The Koboi Project

petronas-canada

In an earlier post I had noted how on July 13 2018, LNG Canada formally welcomed PETRONAS as their fifth Joint Venture participant and how this investment was connected with TransCanada’s Coastal GasLink pipeline that is building to transport the natural gas from Dawson Creek to the LNG Canada terminal in Kitimat.  Much of the gas to be transported to market via the pipeline and terminal will , of course, come from  PETRONAS owned Progress Energy’s own gas fields in the North Montney area. On November 22, 2018 Progress Energy Canada Ltd. changed its name to  PETRONAS Energy Canada Ltd. (PETRONAS Canada). Mark Fitzgerald, President & CEO of PETRONAS Canada said, “The name change is a reflection of our parent company’s commitment to Canada and the strength of our business in the company’s overall portfolio.” Malaysian Crown corporation PETRONAS now not only owns one of the largest natural gas resources in the Montney basin, but is also a key player in getting Canadian LNG to market across the Pacific ocean.

Image: http://mole.my/petronas-jv-participants-reach-final-investment-decision-on-lng-canada/
https://www.energeticcity.ca/2018/07/petronas-now-officially-a-partner-in-lng-canada/
http://www.coastalgaslink.com
https://boereport.com/2018/11/23/progress-energy-changes-name-to-petronas-energy-canada/
https://www.petronascanada.com/