BC delays release of fiscal framework for LNG industry – The Globe and Mail

Feb. 05 2014

Just how the B.C. government intends to extract a trillion dollars in economic activity from a new liquefied natural gas industry won’t be set in legislation until the fall, Finance Minister Mike de Jong says.

That means that final investment decisions from any of the proponents are not expected now until late in 2014 – at the earliest.

The Liberal government cancelled the fall sitting of the legislature last September, saying more time was needed to draft a complex tax regime for LNG. But at that time, Mr. de Jong said both the public and LNG proponents would see the framework for the tax by the end of 2013.

The consultations with industry, however, have proven more difficult than the government originally anticipated. The province wants to offer a more attractive tax regime than Australia, which it has identified as its prime competitor for LNG investment. But LNG suitors were not persuaded last fall that the province was offering a workable system.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bc-delays-release-of-fiscal-framework-for-lng-industry/article16723545/