Shell LNG Canada's coronavirus restart plan approved

Royal Dutch Shell's LNG Canada export project in British Columbia has won approval from health officials for construction to ramp back up with improved coronavirus protection measures.

Work at the site was curtailed last month by an order from the Provincial Health Officer which applied to five major industrial projects in British Columbia, including LNG Canada.

"Our approved restart and measured workforce increase at the project site will continue over the coming months," LNG Canada and JGC I Fluor, the engineering joint venture building the project, said in a statement on Thursday.

LNG Canada said the coronavirus restart plan includes additional coronavirus testing for workers.

All non-local workers will continue to be forbidden from leaving the site except for medical emergency or "critical" appointments that cannot be held virtually or postponed, it added.

LNG Canada is the only big LNG export plant under construction in Canada.

It is set to cost about C$40 billion ($31.4 billion), and is designed to produce about 14 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG or 1.8 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas.

Before coronavirus delayed the project, it was expected to start producing LNG in 2024. Many analysts however now say they expect the project to enter service in the second half of 2025.

Officials at LNG Canada were not immediately available to discuss the cost or timing of the project.

LNG Canada is a joint venture between units of Shell, Malaysia's Petronas, PetroChina Co Ltd, Mitsubishi Corp and Korea Gas Corp, according to the company's website.

JGC I Fluor is a joint venture between JGC Holdings Corp and Fluor Corp.