By Julie Gordon
VANCOUVER, Oct 14 (Reuters) - A small-scale liquefied
natural gas project on British Columbia's Pacific coast is
facing a potential delay as the consortium behind the project
appeals a tax imposed by Canadian customs on the import of its
floating terminal.
The Douglas Channel project, which was expected to go to
final investment decision (FID) before year-end, is facing a 25
percent tariff on the C$300 million ($232 million) floating
terminal, which will be built in China and shipped to Canada.
"This is quite a significant price impact," John Lowe,
executive vice president of project partner Altagas, told
reporters on Wednesday, noting the overall budget for the
development is roughly C$600 million. "We need to resolve this
to reach FID."
The consortium, which includes Altagas, Japan's Idemitsu
5019.T , France's EDF (PA:EDF) Trading and Belgium's Exmar EXMR.BR ,
challenged the tax earlier this year, but lost. It filed its
appeal in September and expects to have an answer next month. If
the appeal fails, Lowe said it will seek further relief from the
Canadian government.
The tariff exists "to protect Canadian industry, but there
are no ship builders in Canada that build this kind of thing,"
said Lowe. "So it's a barrier for no useful purpose."
($1 = 1.2923 Canadian dollars)