PREMIER Christy Clark and Deputy Premier Rich Coleman on Thursday welcomed Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s action to enhance the competitiveness of B.C.’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry through a new tax relief.

“This is great news for the creation of LNG jobs in British Columbia, and great news for Canada,” said Clark. “We have been working with the federal government and industry for some time to achieve this outcome, and I am pleased they have delivered today.”

To support the LNG opportunity, the Government of Canada will establish a capital cost allowance rate of 30% for equipment used to liquefy natural gas and 10% for infrastructure at the export facility. This tax treatment will encourage proponents to choose Canada and British Columbia for investing in a new LNG export facility by helping them recover their investments quickly.

“B.C. is already a safe, certain, competitive jurisdiction for LNG investment,” said Coleman, who is also Minister of Natural Gas Development. “With today’s good news, B.C. is even better positioned to take advantage of this generational opportunity.”

The LNG industry is a new and unique opportunity to grow the economy and create jobs in the province. Nineteen proposals are under consideration in British Columbia and are at various stages of development.

Quick Facts:

* B.C. has an enormous supply of natural gas – an estimated 2,933 trillion cubic feet. This is enough natural gas to support energy needs in Canada and around the world for more than 150 years.

* Today there are 19 LNG proposals in B.C. at various stages of development. Over 30 investment partners are involved.

* A total of 10 LNG proposals have received export approval by Canada’s National Energy Board.

* The Province has issued environmental assessment certificates to six (6) LNG projects (including pipelines).

* Independent research has shown the potential – if five LNG plants are built it would create a total industry investment of $175 billion and up to 100,000 new jobs.