Malaysian national oil company Petronas says it expects to spend up to $16 billion to build a liquefied natural gas export facility in western Canada.

Arif Mahmood, Petronas vice president of corporate planning, says the company will invest between $9 billion and $11 billion to construct two LNG liquefaction plants.

Another $5 billion will be invested in a 750 kilometer-long pipeline, to be built by TransCanada Corp., to supply gas to the two plants, he said Tuesday in an email to The Associated Press.

The Pacific Northwest LNG project, located on Lelu Island in the Port Edward district, will liquefy and export natural gas produced by Progress Energy Canada. Both companies are owned by Petronas, which secured its first LNG buyer, Japan Petroleum Exploration Co.