Bear Head LNG Terminal

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Bear Head LNG Terminal is a cancelled (confirmed) LNG export terminal in Canada.

Location

Table 1: Location details

Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Bear Head LNG Terminal	Point Tupper, Richmond County, Nova Scotia, Canada	45.604444, -61.3675 (approximate)

The map below shows the approximate location of the terminal:

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Project Details

Table 2: Infrastructure details

mtpa = million tonnes per year

Name	Facility type	Status	Capacity	Total terminal capacity	Offshore	Associated infrastructure
Bear Head LNG Terminal	export	cancelled (confirmed)	12 mtpa	12.0 mtpa	False	–

Table 3: Cost

Name	Facility type	Cost	Total known terminal costs
Bear Head LNG Terminal	export	–	–

Financing

No financing data available.

Table 4: Project timeline

FID = Final Investment Decision, used by some developers to indicate a project will move forward

Name	Facility type	Status	Proposal year	FID year	Construction year	Operating year	Inactive year
Bear Head LNG Terminal	export	cancelled (confirmed)	–	–	–	–	2023 (cancelled)

Ownership

Table 5: Ownership

Name	Facility type	Status	Owners	Parent companies	Operator
Bear Head LNG Terminal	export	cancelled (confirmed)	Bear Head Energy Inc [100%]	IFM Global Infrastructure Fund	–

Background

Bear Head LNG Terminal was a proposed LNG terminal in Nova Scotia, Canada. It was originally proposed in 2001 by ANEI, who sold the project to Anadarko in 2004. The project was put on hold in 2006 due to market conditions, but was revived in 2014 by LNGL, who acquired Bear Head LNG from Anadarko. The following permits were approved for the terminal: environmental assessment; permits to build a gas plant facility from the Department of Natural Resources and the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board; and a permit to develop from the municipal government in Richmond County. It would include 2 to 4 production trains, with individual capacities of 2–4 mtpa. The proposed initial capacity was up to 12 mtpa. FID was expected in late 2015, with first operation in 2019.

As of July 2019, the project was still proceeding, but parent company Anadarko Petroleum further postponed construction. The construction start date remained to be determined.

In August 2019, Anadarko Petroleum was acquired by Occidental Petroleum after Occidental outbid Chevron.

In December 2019, Bear Head LNG Corporation was given a three year extension (until the end of 2022) by the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board for the construction permit for the terminal and associated Bear Paw Gas Pipeline. Bear Head’s successful extension request cited major hurdles faced by Canadian east coast export proposals after offshore gas production ended and onshore replacements were ruled out following Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Quebec's bans on unconventional drilling, including hydraulic fracturing.

In April 2020, Natural Gas Intel reported that securing binding offtake agreements has been a struggle for the Bear Head LNG facility due to the already high global LNG supplies.

In July 2020, it was reported that construction had still not begun, and the project was for sale.

The 2021 GIIGNL report, released in November 2021, said that the planned capacity of the project was 8.7 mtpa as of January 2020.

In May 2022, Buckeye Partners LP acquired Bear Head Energy Inc and noted it intended to continue with the development of the project. All permits were in place, though no details about construction timeline were given.

In March 2023, Bear Head Energy Inc announced that it would be re-envisioning the project as a hydrogen and ammonia facility. The LNG terminal is now considered cancelled.

Financing

In March 2020, it emerged that the project is in financial jeopardy due to factors exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. Financing for LNG Limited, the Australian company responsible for the terminal, fell through. The publicly traded company was hoping for bridge loan to keep it afloat until it could be taken private by a company in Singapore.

In May 2020, further doubt was cast on the project following the announcement that LNG Limited's mounting financial problems had resulted in the calling in of administrators PriceWaterhouseCoopers to review the company's assets, as well as the resignation of four LNG Limited directors.

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Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of LNG terminals, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Gas Infrastructure Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.