Companies trumpet rural Newfoundland LNG plans, but mayor says nobody's talked to him

Executives from a due south Korean ship building keep company signed a pact in St. John's late to act on a liquefied natural gas operation, but the mayor of the town at the heart of the project says nobody has bothered to call him.

Jerome Kenny is mayor of Fermeuse, N.L., where several companies have said they're hoping to partner on an LNG operation. The companies have sent press releases about the project, and they've met with Newfoundland and Labrador government ministers.

But they haven't run anything by Kenny or his town council, the mayor said in a recent interview.

"There was a news release by a company there a few weeks ago about an LNG (development). But we haven't received any information from that company," Kenny said.

"As far as we're concerned, there is no proposed development taking place in Fermeuse."

Several executives from South Korean shipbuilding company Hanwha Ocean flew to St. John's last month to sign a memorandum of understanding with Fermeuse Energy Ltd. To advance the project. The agreement established Hanwha Ocean as a "strategic partner" to support the project's financing and development, a news release said.

Though still in its infancy, it would be the first LNG development in Newfoundland and Labrador — if it goes ahead. The project would unlock an estimated 0.3 million cubic metres of gas reserves off the coast of St. John's, said Swapan Kataria, Fermeuse Energy's chief executive officer.

But before it proceeds, Kataria said he needs to wait for Norwegian energy company Equinor to make a final decision on whether to launch its Bay du Nord offshore oil project near the east coast of Newfoundland.

If Equinor proceeds, it will need a marine base where large ships can dock, Kataria said in an interview at a St. John's hotel.

Kataria's company, through a subsidiary, owns plans for a marine base in Fermeuse. Those plans cleared the Newfoundland and Labrador government's environmental assessment process in 2022 and could potentially provide an option, both for Equinor, as well as for the LNG project.

Kataria said he met with the mayor of Fermeuse about the marine base last year, but it was before he decided to pursue an LNG project.

He has not yet registered the natural gas initiative with any government for approval, so he said it was too soon to speak to the mayor and council of Fermeuse about the LNG project.

"We decided to wait for Equinor to be making their 100 per cent decision," Kataria said in an interview at a St. John's hotel. "I personally feel that the province needs (the marine base), irrespective of Equinor."

Equinor said in an email that it expects to seek competitive bids for a Bay du Nord marine base later this year.

Kataria was reluctant to say how much money he had already invested in the LNG effort.

"The amount of investment is relative. These projects cost a lot of money," he said.

A news release from September estimated the LNG project would cost between $12 and $15 billion. Kataria suggested it could be closer to $20 billion.

He is also chief executive of Singapore-based LNG9, which owns Crown LNG and Fermeuse Energy, he said. Crown LNG was a publicly traded company, but Nasdaq delisted it for non-compliance last year, according to the Unites States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Kataria said that under United States President Donald Trump, "it is almost impossible to raise capital in the U.S. For non-U.S. Projects anymore. So it was a conscientious decision not to stay listed in the U.S."

The marine base plans submitted to the provincial government do not include a liquefaction hub, which would be required for Fermeuse Energy's LNG operation. The documents say the base will also require approvals from the federal and municipal governments.

Fermeuse is a community of about 266 people, most of whom are seniors, the mayor said. The town hasn't had much industry since the federal government imposed a moratorium on the province's once-lucrative cod fishery in 1992, he said.

"We need some development," Kenny said. "Whatever it is, we would look at it, but we haven't agreed to anything. If you want to come into Fermeuse and build a shoe factory, of course we would look at it."

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