LNG Canada will begin initial activity within the next year, with the first cargoes of liquefied natural gas scheduled to be shipped in the middle of the decade, the project’s executive director said in a telephone interview.
The project to build a 14-million-metric-ton-a-year liquefaction plant in Kitimat, on the coast of British Columbia, is 85 percent complete, said Jason Klein, CEO of LNG Canada Development Inc. the global consortium led by Shell Plc behind it. the project
Since the invasion of Ukraine, which disrupted Russian pipeline supplies to Europe and accelerated the rush to buy US LNG, Canada’s west coast has appealed to Asian buyers who don’t want to compete with Europe. The shorter shipping distance to Asia and the ample supply of gas from massive basins such as the Montney and Duvernay in British Columbia and Alberta have been touted for decades to develop LNG exports.
The last of the major liquefaction modules for LNG Canada is scheduled to arrive by the end of the month, Klein said. A total of 6,500 people are currently working on the site to finish construction.
Partners are still evaluating a planned second phase for the project, which include Shell, Petroliam Nasional Bhd, PetroChina Company Ltd., Mitsubishi Corp. and Korea Gas Corp. Plans for an all-electric second phase to reduce emissions will have to wait until the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority can supply more power. The company may initially use gas turbines to power the second phase of the plant, but could switch to electricity at a later date, Klein said. LNG Canada is in talks with both the utility and the government to increase power supply to the site.
One of the largest private sector construction projects in Canadian history, LNG Canada is estimated to cost C$40 billion ($30 billion), including the cost of the liquefaction plant, pipeline and drilling of gas
