LNG Canada ships 25th cargo since launch in late June

LNG Canada has shipped its 25th cargo since the export terminal came online in late June, Canada’s flagship LNG project announced on November 20.

The milestone comes after the project previously encountered obstacles in getting cargoes delivered due to disruptions in operations.

The export terminal, based in Kitimat, British Columbia, approximately 800 km north of Vancouver, shipped its first cargo to Japan on June 30.

However, in late July at least one cargo delivery was cancelled due to technical problems, with sources telling Reuters that the challenges were related to a gas turbine as well as a refrigerant production unit.

At times, the facility was operating below half capacity for its first liquefaction train, which has a production capacity of 6.5mn tonnes per year (tpy). The export terminal had only delivered 14 cargoes by October.

In September, supply delivery fell with LNG Canada shipping only four cargoes and just 0.3mn tonnes of the super-cooled gas. And in August, the facility exported 0.4mn tonnes of LNG, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG).

Nevertheless, production has been ramped up and in early November, the plant’s second liquefaction unit, which also has a capacity of 6.5mn tpy, began producing the super-chilled fuel. Beyond Japan, cargoes have also been shipped to South Korea and Malaysia.

Despite steps in the right direction, another setback occurred when the plant also announced on November 20 that it would continue with flaring for Train 2.

It marked a second extension of flaring activities, which were originally scheduled to be finished on November 10. A restart of Train 2 is slated for December 1, which will run for about two weeks.

Operating at full capacity, LNG Canada will be able to pull in about 2bn cubic feet (57mn cubic metres) per day of natural gas or roughly 730bn cubic feet (20.7bn cubic metres) per year.