In order to compensate for reduced domestic production, Canadian natural gas companies have begun to explore the construction of liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminals. Natural gas companies either could sell re-gasified LNG on the domestic market or re-export it to the United States. In total, there are seven LNG regasification projects in Canada at various stages of development, including two in Nova Scotia, two in British Columbia, two in Quebec, and one in New Brunswick.

 

These projects represent a combined 4.9 Bcf/d of regasification capacity. While not without controversy, the Canadian LNG terminals have not met with the same level of resistance from local residents and environmentalists that similar facilities in the U.S. have faced.

In Nova Scotia, U.S.-based Anadarko is building the Bear Head LNG regasification terminal near Port Hawkesbury, which will have an initial send-out capacity of 1 Bcf/d. Anadarko plans to bring the facility online by 2008, but, as of February 2005, it had not yet secured a supply of LNG for the project. Also in Nova Scotia, Keltic Petrochemicals, in conjunction with Netherlands-based Petroplus, has proposed a 1 Bcf/d LNG receiving terminal at Goldsboro, which would feed natural gas to a petrochemical plant and the distribution grid.

In New Brunswick, Canaport LNG, a consortium of Irving Oil and Repsol-YPF, began construction of a 1 Bcf/d LNG terminal at Canaport in September 2005, with completion slated for 2008. In British Columbia, two companies, WestPac Terminals and Galveston LNG, have proposed LNG receiving terminals at Prince Rupert (300 Mmcf/d) and Kitimat (600 Mmcf/d), respectively.

In Quebec, Petro-Canada and TransCanada Pipelines planned to build a 500-Mmcf/d LNG receiving terminal at Gros Cacouna, in the St. Lawrence River. In 2004, Petro-Canada began talks with Russia’s Gazprom to feed the Gros Cacouna terminal from Gazprom’s planned Shtokman field. Petro-Canada expects to begin construction of the project in 2007. Also in Quebec, a consortium of Enbridge, Gas Metro, and Gaz de France have filed a preliminary environmental study for their Rabaska LNG terminal, which they would build at Levis with an initial capacity of around 500 Mmcf/d.