On April 1, an LNG tanker will arrive in Canada to cool down the LNG Canada plant in Kitimat (British Columbia), which is considered to be the final step before production of supercooled gas begins at the plant.

The delivery is scheduled for early April. It is crucial to the safe startup and commissioning of our plant, which is currently underway. We also need to achieve our first cargo before mid-2025.

When completed, the company will be Canada's first liquefied gas export facility. It is expected that 14 million metric tons of super-cooled gas per year (MTPA) will be exported.

Traders said that once LNG Canada is in service, Canadian gas will exports to the U.S. are likely to decline as Canadian energy companies will have an additional outlet for their fuel, and will sell to other countries. The U.S. remains the sole outlet for Canadian natural gas.

According to U.S. Energy Information Administration data, Canada will export about 8.6 billion cubic foot per day (bcfd), up from 8.0 bcfd a year ago and an average 7.5 bcfd for the five previous years (2018-2022). This compares to a record of 10.4 bcfd set in 2002.

LNG Canada has stated that the cooling down period will last between three and four weeks. Maran Gas Roxana is the name of the tanker that will arrive next week.

LNG Canada wants to minimize the amount of gas that is flared during the startup process of the plant. They also want to make sure the plant's machinery is operating according to specification as it expands and contracts when natural gas is introduced.

LNG Canada is the joint venture between Shell, Petronas, PetroChina, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Kogas.

(source: Reuters)