The Haisla Nation has sold its option to purchase an ownership stake in the proposed $3-billion Kitimat liquefied natural gas project for $50 million.
The option was purchased by Kitimat LNG, which leaves Apache Canada and Houston, Tex.-based EOG Resources as sole owners of the project. Apache Canada is owned by the company's U.S. parent.
"This is an immediate and substantial benefit for our people," chief councilor Dolores Pollard said in a release.
The payment is in addition to annual lease and tax payments the Haisla will receive for the project, which is located on Haisla land.
A money management team with a major Canadian financial institution has been selected by the Kitamaat Village Council to manage the money in the short term. This will allow the council more time to develop a longer-term investment strategy.
"(The Kitimat LNG project) has been a great and supportive partner for the Haisla people, and we look forward to a mutually beneficial and long-term relationship," added Pollard.
The $3-billion project is meant to tap into new markets for natural gas in the Asia-Pacific region. Both Apache and EOG Resources have natural gas resources in northeastern B.C. which will help feed the plant in Kitimat.
The liquefied natural gas terminal is meant to be transported by a proposed $1.1-billion pipeline that will link to existing infrastructure at Summit Lake, just north of Prince George.
The gas will be liquefied at the plant in Kitimat then exported via ships.
The project and the 463-kilometre pipeline both have regulatory approval from the federal and provincial governments. A number of First Nation have also signed onto an ownership agreement for the pipeline.
In 2009, the B.C. government signed an agreement with 15 First Nations in northern B.C. that gave them access to $35 million in provincial money to be used to seed an investment partnership.
The agreement gives the First Nations the potential to take a 30 per cent stake in the pipeline.
