China's Sinopec Corp is in serious talks on a site for a potential liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in British Columbia, the province's Minister of Natural Gas Development said on Tuesday. Rich Coleman, in a conference call with reporters, said the Chinese company had explored numerous sites in the province and had also entered partnership discussions with another company.
"All we know at this point in time is they've entered discussions on a site with another partner," said Coleman. "We don't have the details of those discussions. We just know they are here seriously looking for an opportunity." Coleman declined to name the partner or identify sites where the parties were looking. Sinopec owns significant natural gas properties in two of Canada's most prominent shale-gas fields that, once developed, could feed into Pacific Coast LNG plants. A Sinopec spokesperson based in Beijing was not immediately available for comment.