Companies trumpet rural Newfoundland LNG plans, but mayor says nobody's talked to him

Executives from a South Korean shipbuilding company signed a pact in St. John's recently to pursue a liquefied natural gas operation, but the mayor of the town at the heart of the project says nobody has bothered to call him.

Jerome Kenny is mayor of Fermeuse, N.L., where several companies have said they're hoping to partner on an LNG operation. The companies have sent press releases about the project, and they've met with Newfoundland and Labrador government ministers.

But they haven't run anything by Kenny or his town council, the mayor said in a recent interview.

"There was a news release by a company there a few weeks ago about an LNG (development). But we haven't received any information from that company," Kenny said.

"As far as we're concerned, there is no proposed development taking place in Fermeuse."

Several executives from South Korean shipbuilding company Hanwha Ocean flew to St. John's last month to sign a memorandum of understanding with Fermeuse Energy Ltd. to advance the project. The agreement established Hanwha Ocean as a "strategic partner" to support the project's financing and development, a news release said.

Though still in its infancy, it would be the first LNG development in Newfoundland and Labrador — if it goes ahead. The project would unlock an estimated 0.3 million cubic metres of gas reserves off the coast of St. John's, said Swapan Kataria, Fermeuse Energy's chief executive officer.

But before it proceeds, Kataria said he needs to wait for Norwegian energy company Equinor to make a final decision on whether to launch its Bay du Nord offshore oil project near the east coast of Newfoundland.

If Equinor proceeds, it will need a marine base where large ships can dock, Kataria said in an interview at a St. John's hotel.

Kataria's company, through a subsidiary, owns plans for a marine base in Fermeuse. Those plans cleared the Newfoundland and Labrador government's environmental assessment process in 2022 and could potentially provide an option, both for Equinor, as well as for the LNG project.

Kataria said he met with the mayor of Fermeuse about the marine base last year, but it was before he decided to pursue an LNG project.

He has not yet registered the natural gas initiative with any government for approval, so he said it was too soon to speak to the mayor and council of Fermeuse about the LNG project.

"We decided to wait for Equinor to be making their 100 per cent decision," Kataria said in an interview at a St. John's hotel. "I personally feel that the province needs (the marine base), irrespective of Equinor."

Equinor said in an email that it expects to seek competitive bids for a Bay du Nord marine base later this year.