AsianOil: Canadian flip-flopping on LNG leaves Japan, Korea hanging

At a recent webinar attended by ambassadors from both Japan and South Korea in addition to a number of high-ranking Canadian energy officials, Tokyo’s envoy to Ottawa, Kanji Yamanouchi, said: “if everything goes well, by the end of 2024, the first shipment of LNG will be will be sent to Japan.”

“That will be a game-changer” the career diplomat added.

The much-anticipated coming together of representatives from the trans-Pacific nations was sponsored by the Canada West Foundation to help cater to Japanese and more recent Korean attempts to source Canadian LNG in the years ahead.

Yet while optimists in the two Asian capitals are hoping to see the first Western Canadian gas imports from Kitimat coming into port in the not too distant future, questions remain as to whether or not Canada will be able to supply them.

At the crux of the matter is Canada’s apparent reluctance to build any more large-scale LNG export terminals.

According to Dulles Wang, the director of Americas Gas and LNG Research, at Wood Mackenzie, “the market potential in Korea and Japan is just tremendous.”

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