Pembina Pipeline Corp. has halted its 7.8-million tonne/year Jordan Cove LNG liquefaction project in Coos Bay, Ore., requesting that the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) vacate permissions granted for the plant. Pembina had paused development earlier this year citing difficulties obtaining permits from the State of Oregon (OGJ Online, Mar. 1, 2021).
FERC in March 2020 approved Jordan Cove and the associated 229-mile Pacific Connector natural gas pipeline. A series of lawsuits followed, with the US Appeals Court for the DC Circuit first denying a request that FERC approval be vacated pending resolution of the legal actions and then on Nov. 1, 2021, remanding the proceeding to FERC in part “to consider whether the imposition of a stay” of the certificate was “appropriate.”
Pembina, however, has still not obtained the necessary state-issued permits and authorizations from various Oregon agencies, nor been able to determine a timeline in which same might be forthcoming, and has decided not to move forward with the project.
Jordan Cove LNG was initially proposed in 2007 but has faced resistance from environmental groups, property owners, and Indigenous communities ever since. Landowners are now likely to ask the DC Circuit to remand the project’s certificate as a necessary step towards FERC vacating it.