Two more N American LNG projects planned

Energy companies have announced two multi-billion-dollar North American liquefied natural gas export plants, adding to a lengthening list of projects aimed at shipping surplus gas overseas to take advantage of more lucrative markets.Excelerate Energy, the US liquefied natural gas company founded by Oklahoma billionaire George Kaiser, plans to develop the country’s first floating LNG export plant off the Gulf Coast, while Royal Dutch Shell has partnered with Asian buyers to build a plant in western Canada.Qatar recently took a “major” stake in Shell, which is already involved in huge projects in the country.The two projects add to 10 others in various stages of development in North America over the last few years as a huge supply surge from shale deposits floods the market and pushes prices far below levels in Europe and Asia.The export of LNG, which is natural gas cooled to a liquid for shipping, marks a stark turnaround for North American energy companies, which 10 years ago were scrambling to build import terminals before shale gas production unlocked decades of supplies.It has sparked a political debate in the US over whether cheap resources would be better used domestically. The Obama administration said on Monday that it does not oppose US LNG exports, though it will depend on an official analysis to guide its decision on whether to allow more gas projects to proceed.But Canada, whose vast gas reserves in British Columbia are stranded without demand from the amply-supplied US, is racing to find needy buyers in Asia willing to pay dearly for the fuel. British Columbia Premier Christy Clark has identified LNG exports as a major economic opportunity and job creator in Canada’s westernmost province.“Canada is a lot more open to exports than the US. The US market is bigger and there is more potential for that gas to serve domestic needs — more than in British Columbia,” said John Malone, analyst at Global Hunter Securities in New York.Shell, along with PetroChina, South Korea’s Kogas and Mitsubishi Corp, will study a liquefaction plant at Kitimat, British Columbia, that would initially include two units with capacity of 6mn tonnes annually each, or a total of 2bn cubic feet a day.It could be in service by the end of the decade, pending regulatory approvals. Called LNG Canada, it is the third major plant to be announced on the West Coast port in recent years, following Kitimat LNG, led by Apache Corp, and BC LNG Export Co-operative, both of which have export licenses.Others are in the study stage at Kitimat, which looks set to become a major supply hub for the Pacific Rim.In the US, only Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass project has full export approval.Lorraine Mitchelmore, president of Shell’s Canadian division, said it is unlikely that the rush to build LNG plants on the West Coast will mean a saturated market, with Asian economies, the world’s fastest growing, as the target markets.Meanwhile, fast-advancing shale gas recovery technology can unlock gas reserves in Western Canada of as much as 200tn cubic feet, Mitchelmore said. British Columbia’s supply sources include the massive Horn River and Montney shale gas formations.“So we see an incredible demand and a very competitive supply here in western Canada, so we see a huge opportunity to supply this competitive gas,” she said.LNG Canada will negotiate with a third party to build and own a pipeline to connect the supply to the plant, she said.