Canada extends LNG approvals to eight, a total of 20 bcf per day

Canada’s National Energy Board keeps clearing the way for proponents to make commercial decisions on projects to export LNG from the British Columbia coast.

The federal regulatory agency’s total now stands at eight approvals of export volumes that represent a maximum 112 million metric tons a year, or more than 20 billion cubic feet per day of gas feedstock.

The latest application to be cleared by the NEB is the Triton partnership of AltaGas and Japan’s Idemitsu, which has approval to ship 3.26 metric tons per year of LNG over 25 years. The joint venture is also designed to export LPG.

In addition, the NEB has approved the use of 1.55 bcf per day of Western Canadian gas to support Veresen’s planned Jordan Cove LNG project in Oregon.

Four applications before NEB

In ruling on Triton, the NEB held firm to its view that the project would not be a drain on Canada’s domestic gas requirements in the foreseeable future based on known discoveries.

It said the quantity of gas to be exported by Triton is “surplus to Canadian needs,” relying on resources that have been uncovered in the Western Canada Sedimentary basin and the United States.

“The North American gas market is a mature marketplace characterized by a large number of buyers and sellers, an extensive and growing pipeline and storage network and a sophisticated commercial structure,” it said.

The NEB said that since the deregulation of Canadian gas markets in 1985, the North American markets have “functioned efficiently and there is no evidence to suggest that they will not continue to do so in the future.”

Despite some grumblings and expressions of concern, the NEB has acted promptly in dealing with the export applications, facilitating commercial decisions by proponents, although none has yet made a final decision to proceed.

—Gary Park