Malaysia’s Petronas halts western Canadian LNG project

Malaysia's state-owned energy company Petronas will not proceed with a proposed C$36 billion ($28.8 billion) liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in western Canada because of weak global prices, the company said on Tuesday.

The news is a heavy blow to Canada's ambitions to become a global LNG player. Of more than a dozen projects proposed for the west coast of British Columbia only the C$1.6 billion privately held Woodfibre project has been given the green light by its developers.

Pacific NorthWest LNG was meant to produce 12 megatonnes per year and spur further development of British Columbia's Montney natural gas play in the northeast of the province.

The project received approval from the Canadian government last year but Petronas, which has been going through significant cost-cutting, delayed its final investment decision while reviewing the 190 conditions attached.

Petronas and partners will continue to develop natural gas assets in Canada, Anuar Taib, the chairman of the board of Pacific NorthWest LNG, which is majority-owned by Petronas, said in a statement.

"We are disappointed that the extremely challenging environment brought about by the prolonged depressed prices and shifts in the energy industry have led us to this decision," Taib said.

The government of British Columbia did not have an immediate comment, but said the energy minister would respond to the issue before noon local time.

(Editing by Lisa Shumaker)