The Lead

The development of a natural gas liquefaction facility was approved by the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission earlier this week. The project will be run by GasNorth Energy Ltd. in an equity partnership with the Fort Nelson First Nation. Its main focus will be shipping LNG to northern communities whose primary source of energy are diesel power generators, reported CBC News.

The provincial government also approved a permit for the Fort Nelson First Nation that will allow them to assess old natural gas fields with the possibility of repurposing them for geothermal electricity.

Internationally

The U.K. government is being sued following their approval of a new gas-fired power plant run by Drax Power Station. The project was approved by Andrea Leadsom, the secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, back in October following a recommendation from inspectors that the facility be rejected because it “would undermine the government’s commitment, as set out in the Climate Change Act 2008, to cut greenhouse emissions.”

The high court has granted ClientEarth permissions to sue ministers involved in the approval of the facility, which should gain traction in two months, according to the Guardian.

On Thursday morning, Brent Crude $US57.48 and West Texas Intermediate US$52.13.

In Canada

After multiple court challenges led by B.C.’s provincial government, Premier John Horgan has finally accepted that the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion will be built, reported Global News.

Yesterday, Horgan said that he isn’t thrilled “with the prospect of seven-fold increase in tanker traffic in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Salish Sea,” but acknowledged that the project has been legitimized by the court and therefore, will continue.

“I don’t expect the [Wet’suwet’en] leadership to say tomorrow that they love the pipeline… That’s not my expectation. But there needs to be a legitimate understanding that the majority of the people in the region are going to benefit from this and that’s what dialogue will produce,” he said.

Noteworthy