The LNG export facility, to be built on Canada's West Coast, will receive a final investment decision in late 2014, both companies said on Monday, after Petronas won regulatory approval last week for its $5.3-billion bid for Toronto-listed Progress.
"Petronas' well-established and extensive network of LNG customers will add value to Canada's natural gas resources and provide a strategic alternative to the traditional North American natural gas market," the companies said.
The companies will also continue the upstream development of natural gas production in the Montney region, and install a pipeline to carry natural gas from production fields to the new LNG facility.
"These components will create thousands of well-paid jobs during construction of the facility and pipeline, as well as permanent, ongoing operating jobs throughout our LNG business, from the Montney region to the West Coast," Shamsul Azhar Abbas, President and Chief Executive of Petronas, said in the statement.
Canada approved the acquisition of Progress along with a bid by China's CNOOC Ltd for energy company Nexen Inc .
"The acquisition will enable Petronas to secure long-term strategic gas resources and leverage on Progress' extensive experience in unconventional resource development," the statement said.
Center>Copyright Reuters, 2012