Canada has the opportunity to become a global LNG leader, new report says

Detailed summary

Canada’s only liquified natural gas facility began operating last year, yet the country has an opportunity to scale up that industry and become one of the top natural gas exporters in the world, according to a new report.

Canada’s only liquified natural gas (LNG) facility began operating last year, yet the country has an opportunity to scale up that industry and become one of the top natural gas exporters in the world, according to a new report.

There are several hurdles to overcome, though, including a lengthy permitting process and a lack of proposed projects by the private sector.

The federal government aims to grow LNG exports to upwards of 100 million tonnes per year.

Currently, one facility is operational with a capacity of 14 million tonnes per year.

Reaching the federal goal could have a significant economic impact, according to the report released Thursday by S&P Global, including nearly a quarter million jobs annually and nearly $1 trillion of investment in the natural gas industry by 2050.

“If Canada can address its permitting issues and its cost issues, Canada can play a very big role in global LNG, which would be obviously beneficial for the Canadian economy and would help to globalize its economy and make its economy less dependent upon on its neighbour to the south,” said Daniel Yergin, vice-chairman of S&P Global, in an interview with CBC News.

Western Canada has a vast amount of natural gas, which can be produced at some of the lowest costs in North America.

However, building pipelines to transport the gas to the West Coast from Alberta and northeast B.C. has been a complex and expensive process.

The Coastal GasLink project, which was developed by TC Energy and is partly-owned by local First Nations, faced several delays and cost overruns. The project was opposed by various Indigenous communities and environmentalists. The pipeline project crosses about 625 lakes, rivers, creeks, wetlands and streams in northern B.C.

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