Petronas expenditure shows vastness of rush for natural gas

CALGARY • Petroliam Nasional Bhd.’ s $36-billion commitment to a liquefied natural gas plant on the british columbia coast shows securing new markets for canadian gas won’t be cheap.

The planned investment by Malaysia’s Petronas, which includes last year’s acquisition price of Progress energy Inc. plus costs for a pipeline, two production “trains” and drilling wells, also points to the size of a potential infrastructure boom awaiting b.c. if export schemes are sanctioned.

companies that build roads and clear drill sites such as PetroWest corp., Macro enterprises and Shawcor Ltd. may benefit as export developers spend between $150-billion and $300-billion on pipelines and plants that cool gas to a liquid for shipment overseas, according to Vancouver-based investment dealer PI Financial.

“All this work has to be done ahead of time,” Jason Zandberg, analyst at the firm, said Monday in an interview. “We see it as sort of a five-to-seven year massive investment.”

Not all export projects are likely to proceed, Mr. Zand- berg said. but developments sponsored by just chevron corp., Shell canada Ltd., the Haisla First Nation and Petronas could drive total investments north of $206-billion, analysts led by Mr. Zandberg said Monday in a note, which cited figures compiled boston-based unit economics.