LNG Canada ships 100th cargo in first year of operation

LNG Canada marked a key milestone with its 100th cargo shipped. Canada’s flagship LNG project announced the achievement on its LinkedIn account on June 18.

The Shell-operated projected located in Kitimat, British Columbia located 700 km north of Vancouver, loaded its first cargo on June 30 last year, which it sent to South Korea.

The 100th cargo marks an unlikely achievement for the project. Although construction of the facility was completed on schedule, the plant struggled with a number of technical challenges when it first came online that disrupted production for several months and forced some cargoes to be canceled.

At times, Train 1 was operating at less than half of its capacity of 6.5 mn tonnes per year (tpy). In September, LNG Canada shipped only four cargoes the entire month. Meanwhile, Train 2 did not begin producing LNG until November.

However, after fixing its production disruptions, LNG Canada ramped up production and by the time the Middle East conflict broke out in late February, LNG Canada was well positioned to step up production and capitalize on higher spot market prices.

On a monthly schedule, LNG Canada can ship almost 1.2 mn tonnes of the super-chilled fuel. The facility pulls in about 2 bn cubic feet (57 mn cubic metres) per day of LNG.

The project’s second phase has been named to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Major Projects list, which his government has designated to fast-track as a nation-building project.

In May, Canada’s Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson stated that LNG Canada will make a final investment decision (FID) on its Phase Two expansion before the end of the year.

The FID decision has been gaining momentum and Hodgson has confirmed that Ottawa is collaborating with the province of British Columbia and LNG Canada’s consortium to collectively progress the final work that needs to be completed.

Moreover, in early June, US firm Fluor Corporation was given limited notice to proceed for construction of the proposed Phase 2 expansion of LNG Canada, which would double its production capacity to 28 mn tpy.