With the upcoming natural gas cooling, the Canadian LNG export terminal is on track for the first cargo in mid-2025

LNG Canada, a joint venture between Shell, Petronas, PetroChina, KOGAS and Mitsubishi, is awaiting the arrival of refrigerants in the form of liquefied natural gas used to cool the natural gas being delivered to its future liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility in Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada.

Commissioning and start-up activities for the LNG Canada Project is moving at full speed as developers say Phase 1 of the LNG export facility in Kitimat is over 90% complete. Upcoming activities include the delivery of a cargo of coolant to be stored on board the Gaschem Atlantic – a gas tanker built in 2009 with a capacity of 8,500 cubic metres (cbm) owned by Hamburg-based GasChem Services.

From the Delaware River in Pennsylvania, the ship crossed the Panama Canal and reached the Pacific coast of British Columbia. It was to anchor at the Port of Prince Rupert In early August, before arriving at LNG Canada’s marine terminal for unloading.

These refrigerants will be used to cool natural gas delivered to LNG Canada via the Coastal GasLink pipeline, minimizing flaring activities. Once the plant is operational, the joint venture intends to produce its own refrigerants. With flaring set to begin in August, the partners are confident that the first vessel carrying locally produced LNG can be expected in mid-2025.

This follows shortly after another milestone – the final weld on the plant’s first production train a month ago. With an initial production capacity of 12.7 tonnes (14 million tonnes) of LNG per year, the Ktimiat plant will include, among other things, a natural gas receiving and LNG production unit, a marine terminal for two LNG carriers, a tug jetty and LNG loading pipelines.