Developers Cancel Oregon Pipeline and LNG Export Terminal
In late February 2023, developers withdrew their proposal to build a controversial natural gas pipeline and export terminal in Oregon, ending a contentious fight over fossil fuel infrastructure in the Pacific Northwest.
The proposed project would transport natural gas from Alberta, Canada, to Coos Bay in coastal Oregon via a 232-mile feeder pipeline. There, the Jordan Cove Energy Project called for the construction of a massive liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal on the bay.
However, the Canadian company Pembina Pipeline Corp announced it was canceling the $10 billion proposal altogether after failing to receive necessary permits and facing years of opposition from tribes, environmentalists, and Oregon landowners unwilling to allow pipeline construction on their properties.
The Trump administration was a major backer of the project, originally approved under looser regulations in 2018. However, in 2021 the Biden administration rescinded that federal approval and denied a new water permit amid the ongoing legal and political disputes.
Pembina cited market changes that now make the project economically unviable. Environmental groups, Oregon officials, and local tribes celebrated the proposal’s demise, saying it would enable further natural gas extraction while harming fragile coastal habitats.
If built, Jordan Cove would have been the first LNG export terminal on America’s West Coast and enabled the export of Canadian gas across the Pacific. Its failure deals a major blow to the oil and gas industry’s expansion ambitions in Western North America and underscores the growing opposition towards new fossil fuel projects on ecological grounds.
