Within the past week, reports emerged from Bloomberg and Reuters that LNG Canada, a 14 MMTpy (million tonnes per year) LNG export terminal under construction on Canada’s west coast near the town of Kitimat, British Columbia, could be starting some operations within the next year. Although no specifics were provided as to the nature of these initial operations, RBN suspects that the start up will involve the pre-commissioning of the site’s two LNG liquefaction terminals, which are expected to produce the LNG equivalent of 1.8 Bcf/d of natural gas for export to Asian markets. This would suggest that the site’s first gas intake could be as soon as the second half of 2024 (top chart below), with a gradual increase taking up to a year (i.e., mid-2025) to reach full gas intake of 2.1 Bcf/d (which includes gas used for fuel) before starting commercial operations. It was also reported that work at LNG Canada is 85% complete as of end June 2023.
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Thinking Out Loud - What Might Be the Timing and Scope of the Ramp Up of Gas into LNG Canada?
LNG Canada, under construction for nearly six years on Canada’s West Coast, is rapidly approaching the time when first gas will be entering the plant for testing and calibration of equipment, marking an important transformation for the Western Canadian natural gas market. This will kick off what will likely be about a yearlong testing process before officially entering commercial service in mid-2025. In today’s RBN blog, we consider daily gas flow data from the startup of similar-sized LNG plants on the U.S. Gulf Coast and develop a conjectural timeline for LNG Canada to help assess how much gas will flow to the site — and how soon — and when LNG exports might begin.
Keep This Party Going - An Update on Canada's West Coast LNG Export Projects
Developers have been kicking around plans for LNG exports from British Columbia (BC), Canada’s westernmost province, for more than a decade, with more than 20 projects on the drawing board at one point. That long list has been whittled down to just three that have reached the point of final investment decision (FID) — a hard plan to proceed to construction and startup. One of those projects, LNG Canada, should be sending out LNG as soon as the end of this year, placing Canada firmly on the map of LNG-exporting nations. In today’s RBN blog, we take a closer look at the three projects and hint at plans by a handful of contenders vying to join the LNG export party.
Reaching Out - The Gathering Pipes That Will Supply the Coastal GasLink Pipeline
It will still be a few years until Canada joins the ranks of nations exporting natural gas in the form of LNG. Until then, a great deal of work has to be completed on both the LNG Canada liquefaction and export facility in Kitimat, BC, and the primary gas pipeline linked to it: the Coastal GasLink. Unlike most LNG export sites in the U.S., which can receive feedgas from multiple production basins via an array of major trunklines, the LNG Canada plant will be relying on gas supplies from primarily one basin: the Montney in Western Canada. And all that feedgas will be transported across British Columbia through one mammoth pipeline. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at the small number of pipelines that will supply gas from the Montney to Coastal GasLink for eventual delivery to LNG Canada.
