Jordan Cove LNG finally laid to rest
Pembina Pipeline, the Canadian infrastructure company that inherited the troubled Jordan Cove LNG project in Oregon from Verasen in 2017, asked US regulators December 1 to vacate federal authorisations for the liquefaction facility and its companion pipeline, Pacific Connector.
“Despite diligent and persistent efforts, Applicants have not been able to obtain the necessary state-issued permits and authorisations from various Oregon state agencies,” Jordan Cove Energy Project said in a brief to the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
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The project, nearly a decade in the making, was initially approved by FERC in the spring of 2020, but since then has met ongoing resistance from landowners and Oregon state agencies, who have refused to issue a number of required permits.
In January, FERC upheld Oregon’s contention that it had not waived its authority to grant Jordan Cove a Section 401 clean water certificate. Other barriers followed, prompting Pembina earlier this year to undertake a review into whether it would ever succeed in receiving state authorisations for the project.
“Applicants have now completed this review and have decided not to move forward with the project,” it said in the FERC filing. “Among other considerations, applicants remain concerned regarding their ability to obtain the necessary state permits in the immediate future in addition to other external obstacles.”
Pembina took a C$349mn (US$277mn) impairment on the 7.8mn mt/yr liquefaction project in its Q4 2020 financial results, signalling the project was in trouble, and in mid-November, FERC asked the company to clarify whether it intended to proceed with the project.