TC Energy Corp. chief executive officer François Poirier.Handout
Canada’s West Coast is positioned to become a reliable supplier of liquefied natural gas, but the East Coast faces pipeline constraints, says TC Energy Corp.’s TRP-T chief executive officer.
With Europe experiencing an energy crisis after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, François Poirier said he is optimistic West Coast exports to Asia will play an important role by injecting much-needed LNG supply into the global market.
“Even before the invasion in Ukraine, we were already seeing signs of tightening supply,” Mr. Poirier said in a phone interview from Calgary. “I see a great opportunity for Canada.”
TC Energy is constructing the $11.2-billion Coastal GasLink pipeline, which is designed to transport natural gas from northeast British Columbia to LNG Canada’s $18-billion export terminal currently under construction in Kitimat, B.C.
The first phase of the Kitimat facility will have the capacity to export 14 million tonnes of LNG a year to Asia, starting in 2025. A second phase being contemplated by LNG Canada, a consortium led by Shell PLC, would double the export capacity.
“We’re continuing to work closely with LNG Canada and are studying the feasibility of the second phase,” Mr. Poirier said.
However, he cautioned that transporting natural gas from Alberta to the East Coast would be difficult financially and logistically, compared with shorter distances for pipelines within B.C. or from Alberta to the West Coast.
“The Western Canadian basin being quite far away from the East Coast can make the economics challenging,” he said. “But there are other potential benefits – diversity of supply, security of supply – that can make East Coast LNG viable, and we have to assess them.”
LNG Canada supply route
Fort St. John
Coastal GasLink pipeline project
TC Energy Corp.’s Nova Gas
Transmission Ltd. (NGTL)
existing system
Dawson
Creek
Fort St. James
Prince
Rupert
Kitimat
Fraser
Lake
Prince George
BRITISH COLUMBIA
TC Energy Corp.’s Coastal GasLink natural gas
pipeline project has the support of all 20 elected
Indigenous band councils along the 670-kilometre
route from northeast B.C. to Kitimat. But the Office
of the Wet’suwet’en, governed by hereditary
chiefs, opposes the pipeline project, saying Indige-
nous authority rests with hereditary leaders, not
elected ones, over a large segment of the route.
LNG Canada project site
0
75
U.S.
KM
CANADA
Prince
Terrace
Rupert
Kitimat
Kitkatla
Douglas
Channel
Browning
Entrance
Banks
Island
Haida
Gwaii
BRITISH
COLUMBIA
Hecate
Strait
Klemtu
Pacific
Ocean
Queen
Charlotte
Sound
DETAIL
Kitimat River
Shell PLC is the largest
partner in LNG Canada,
with a 40 per cent stake.
The other partners are:
Malaysia’s state-owned
Petronas (25 per cent),
PetroChina (15 per cent),
Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp.
(15 per cent) and South
Korea’s Kogas
(5 per cent).
Existing site
LNG
Canada
site
Rio Tinto
plant
Marine
terminal
brent jang and JOHN SOPINSKI/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
SOURCE: lng canada; royal dutch shell;
coastalgaslink.com
LNG Canada supply route
Fort St. John
Coastal GasLink pipeline project
TC Energy Corp.’s Nova Gas
Transmission Ltd. (NGTL)
existing system
Dawson
Creek
Smithers
Prince
Rupert
Fort St. James
Kitimat
Fraser
Lake
Prince George
BRITISH COLUMBIA
TC Energy Corp.’s Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline
project has the support of all 20 elected Indigenous band
councils along the 670-kilometre route from northeast
B.C. to Kitimat. But the Office of the Wet’suwet’en, gov-
erned by hereditary chiefs, opposes the pipeline project,
saying Indigenous authority rests with hereditary leaders,
not elected ones, over a large segment of the route.
LNG Canada project site
0
75
U.S.
KM
CANADA
Prince
Terrace
Rupert
Kitimat
Kitkatla
Douglas
Channel
Browning
Entrance
Haida
Gwaii
Banks
Island
Hartley
Bay
BRITISH
COLUMBIA
Hecate
Strait
Klemtu
Pacific
Ocean
Queen
Charlotte
Sound
DETAIL
BRITISH
COLUMBIA
Kitimat River
Minette Bay
Existing site
Shell PLC is the largest
partner in LNG Canada,
with a 40 per cent
stake. The other partners
are: Malaysia’s state-
owned Petronas (25
per cent), PetroChina (15
per cent), Japan’s Mitsubi-
shi Corp. (15 per cent) and
South Korea’s Kogas
(5 per cent).
LNG
Canada
site
Rio Tinto
plant
Douglas
Channel
Marine
terminal
brent jang and JOHN SOPINSKI/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
SOURCE: lng canada; royal dutch shell; coastalgaslink.com
LNG Canada supply route
Fort St. John
Coastal GasLink pipeline project
TC Energy Corp.’s Nova Gas Transmission
Ltd. (NGTL) existing system
Dawson
Creek
Mackenzie
Fort St. James
Smithers
Prince
Rupert
Kitimat
Fraser
Lake
Prince George
BRITISH COLUMBIA
TC Energy Corp.’s Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline project has the support of
all 20 elected Indigenous band councils along the 670-kilometre route from
northeast B.C. to Kitimat. But the Office of the Wet’suwet’en, governed by hered-
itary chiefs, opposes the pipeline project, saying Indigenous authority rests with
leaders, not elected ones, over a large segment of the route.
LNG Canada project site
0
75
U.S.
KM
CANADA
Prince
Terrace
Rupert
Kitimat
Kitkatla
Douglas
Channel
Browning
Entrance
Haida
Gwaii
Hartley
Bay
Banks
Island
BRITISH
COLUMBIA
Hecate
Strait
Klemtu
Pacific
Ocean
Queen
Charlotte
Sound
DETAIL
Kitimat River
BRITISH
COLUMBIA
Existing site
Minette Bay
LNG
Canada
site
Rio Tinto
plant
Shell PLC is the largest
partner in LNG Canada, with
a 40 per cent stake. The other
partners are: Malaysia’s
state-owned Petronas (25 per
cent), Petro China (15 per
cent), Japan’s Mitsubishi
Corp. (15 per cent)
and South Korea’s Kogas
(5 per cent).
Douglas
Channel
Marine
terminal
brent jang and JOHN SOPINSKI/THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: lng
canada; royal dutch shell; coastalgaslink.com
Proponents of two export proposals on the East Coast, Pieridae Energy Ltd.’s Goldboro LNG in Nova Scotia and Repsol SA’s Saint John LNG in New Brunswick, are examining the economics of shipping LNG to Europe. Yet the Maritime provinces don’t have access to sufficient pipeline capacity, with notable constraints in Central Canada and New England.
TC Energy, which owns a 35-per-cent stake in Coastal GasLink, has a 50-per-cent interest in TransQuébec & Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline’s system in Quebec.
The Calgary-based energy infrastructure company also has a 61.7-per-cent stake in the Portland Natural Gas Transmission System, or PNGTS, which runs in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.
TransQuébec’s system connects with PNGTS from Quebec into New Hampshire, and then follows a circuitous route that goes from Maine into New Brunswick on the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, which is 77.5-per-cent owned by Enbridge Inc.
While there has been renewed interest in East Coast LNG proposals, there isn’t a natural-gas pipeline within Canada to directly connect Quebec with New Brunswick.
“We are carefully studying the viability of delivering natural gas to the East Coast,” Mr. Poirier said. “We’re being careful in light of significant financial and regulatory challenges.”
The International Institute for Sustainable Development said in a report last month that the European Union has ambitious plans to attain climate goals, and it makes sense to focus on renewables such as wind power and solar energy instead of perpetuating the use of fossil fuels.
“Canadian LNG is not the solution for the EU’s desire to get off Russian gas,” the institute said in its report.
But Mr. Poirier said there are no shortcuts in the lengthy transition from fossil fuels to renewables, describing LNG as a crucial commodity in the energy transition, with lower greenhouse-gas emissions than coal.
“We’re faced with the challenge of achieving the energy transition while at the same time looking for more sustainable forms of energy,” he said. “LNG, in my view, is going to be and needs to be an important part of the solution.”
LNG Canada’s facility, which is located on the traditional territory of the Haisla Nation, would become the first LNG export terminal to open in Canada.
“Right now, the priority is let’s start with LNG Canada and getting it in service,” Mr. Poirier said. “This project is going to put Canada on the map as a global LNG supplier.”
Three other ventures in B.C. have proposals to export the fuel to Asia as early as 2027: Cedar LNG in Kitimat; Woodfibre LNG near Squamish, B.C.; and Ksi Lisims LNG in northern B.C.
As Europe seeks to wean itself off natural gas from Russia, there already has been a resurgence on the continent of coal-fired generation for electricity, said Robin Campbell, president of the Coal Association of Canada.
“Foreign countries are looking for energy security and coal gives them that security,” Mr. Campbell said. “There’s a lot of talk about LNG, but Canada doesn’t have any LNG plants built.”
In sharp contrast, seven LNG export terminals are already operating in the United States, and at least another five facilities, including expansions at three existing sites, are likely to open by 2028.
Work on the contentious Coastal GasLink project is almost three-quarters finished, including completion of the Wilde Lake compressor and meter facility in northeast B.C. Two of the eight pipeline sections along the route have been completed, but construction is behind schedule in the area near Houston, B.C.
The Haisla Nation and 19 other elected band councils along Coastal GasLink’s route have approved the pipeline project.
“I can’t emphasize enough that North America has the resources and the responsibility to the world and to our allies to deliver more LNG,” Mr. Poirier said. “We are going to create prosperity for Indigenous peoples and for the Canadian economy at large.”
Yet Wet’suwet’en Nation hereditary chiefs who oppose Coastal GasLink say elected Indigenous leaders don’t have jurisdiction over the Wet’suwet’en’s traditional territory.
About 190 kilometres of the 670-kilometre pipeline route cross the Wet’suwet’en’s territory, known as their “yin tah.”
Hereditary chiefs say Coastal GasLink recently denied them access to their unceded lands while crews resumed preparation work near Houston for micro-tunnelling under the Morice River, or “Wedzin Kwa.”
The river has been “sacred to the Wet’suwet’en since time immemorial, raising significant concern to hereditary chiefs and many across the yin tah,” said a statement issued on behalf of hereditary chiefs.
The statement also criticized the B.C. and federal governments for the “failure to fulfill commitments” after hereditary chiefs and two cabinet ministers signed a memorandum of understanding that outlines an expedited process to implement rights and title over the Wet’suwet’en’s traditional territory.
Mr. Poirier said it’s up to hereditary chiefs who oppose Coastal GasLink to work out internal governance issues with elected Indigenous leaders who support the pipeline project.
“We recognize those who remain opposed. We may never reach unanimity,” he said. “We understand that there are matters that go beyond this project and industry that need to be addressed.”
Brent Jang