LNG Canada

LNG Canada is a large industrial energy project to build and operate an LNG liquefaction, storage and loading terminal in the port of Kitimat, BC, in order to export liquefied natural gas (LNG] produced by the project's partners in the Montney Formation gas fields of British Columbia, near Dawson Creek, B.C.

Outline of the project

The total investment, estimated at $40 billion, was officially approved on October 1, 2018, by the shareholders of the project, i.e. subsidiaries of, respectively, Royal Dutch Shell Plc. (40%, lead partner) of the UK and Holland, Petronas (25%) of Malaysia, PetroChina Co. Ltd. (15%) of China, Mitsubishi Corp. (15%) of Japan and Korea Gas Corporation (5%) of Korea.[1]

Two partners, Royal Dutch Shell and Mitsubishi, stated that the project will initially export LNG from two processing units, or 'trains', totalling 14 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of natural gas, and that, ultimately, the project may add two more 'trains' totalling 14 million tpa.

The Final Investment Decision ('FID') for the large LNG Canada project has been considered as a significant step not only for Canada's energy mining industry but also for the global LNG industry as a whole, as natural gas, including in its liquefied known as LNG is being used more and more extensively to fuel power plants, pretrochemical plants and natural gas distribution pipelines to homes and offices, as well as to fuel various transport modes such as ocean shipping [2] [3]

When completed LNG Canada should become the first Canadian terminal to export LNG overseas, whereas several LNG liquefaction and export terminals are already operating on the US Gulf and Atlantic coasts, with others being planned, including on the US West Coast (see List of LNG terminals).

Ten days after the announcement of the investment decision, it was announced by Reuters that two Japanese gas utilities, i.e. Toho Gas and Tokyo Gas had already signed heads of agreement for LNG purchasing contracts over respectively 15 and 13 years with a subsidiary of one of the LNG Canada partners and shareholders, i.e. Mitsubishi.

Construction

The partners and their engineering and construction contractors aim at completing and opening the LNG Canada project for 2025, barring engineering, construction, environmental or regulatory obstacles.

The engineering and overall supervision of the construction of the project has been awarded to a joint venture of two large engineering companies, JGC of Japan and Fluor Corporation of the US.

The first phase of the project includes a $6.2-billion Coastal GasLink Pipeline through northern British Columbia, which will be built and operated by TransCanada. 'Coastal GasLink' will be a 670-kilometre (420 mile) gas pipeline which will have an initial capacity of approximately 2.1 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/day) with the potential for expansion of up to approximately 5 Bcf/day. Construction activities are expected to begin in early 2019 with a planned in-service date in 2023. The estimated Cdn$6.2 billion gas pipeline project is backed by 25-year transportation service agreements entered between TransCanada Corporation and the LNG Canada partners.

The second phase is the construction of an $18-billion gas liquefaction and storage plant in the port of Kitimat, B.C., with two liquefaction 'trains' where the natural gas will be cooled down to a minus 160 Celsius temperature to reach its liquid state, then be stored waiting for ships to transport it to Asian markets.

A new terminal for LNG carrier ships will be built within the port of Kitimat, B.C., connected to the LNG Canada liquefaction and storage plant.

LNG carrier ocean ships will sail up and down the Douglas Channel, to and from the port of Kitimat, to load LNG and sail fully loaded to overseas destinations, mainly in Asia. Such LNG carrier ships may be owned and operated by some of the LNG Canada partners, or by their LNG purchasing clients, or they may be time-chartered from specialized independent ship owners and operators of such specialized ships.

A potential controversy in connection with this large construction project is the level of customs duties that will be applied by Canada on any import of foreign manufactured steel modules, especially from China. [4]

Environmental impact

As for any energy mining, transportation, storage and export project of this magnitude, there are multiple potential impacts, both on the atmosphere, on land and at sea, which have started to be debated both within Kitimat and British Columbia, as well as in Canada at large [5] and [5]

Economic impact

TBA

References

  1. ↑ "Shell gives green light to invest in LNG Canada | Shell Global". shell.com. Retrieved 2018-10-03.
  2. ↑ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-lng-global/shells-lng-canada-seen-as-tip-of-megaproject-iceberg-idUSKCN1MC1Z5. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ↑ https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Markets/Commodities/Asian-energy-groups-join-Shell-in-14bn-Canada-LNG-project. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-02/trudeau-backs-lng-canada-against-threat-of-steel-duties. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. 1 2 https://www.northernsentinel.com/news/lng-can-help-b-c-prepare-for-future-energy-sources-prof-says/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
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