Canada Seeks to Advance LNG Cooperation with France as West Coast Exports Emerge as Potential Supply Route

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 21, Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand stated that there is room for Canada to establish an LNG cooperation relationship with France, with potential supply potentially coming from LNG export facilities on Canada's Pacific coast. Anand made the remarks in an interview during the United Nations General Assembly. A day earlier, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met with French President Emmanuel Macron, and energy cooperation was one of the topics discussed by both sides.

Anand said Canada can establish energy cooperation relationships with European countries through West Coast LNG exports, and the same model applies to France. Canada is currently discussing energy cooperation with multiple countries, covering not only LNG but also clean energy, wind power, solar power, and nuclear energy. France has recently continued to propose expanding energy cooperation with Canada, with the key background being Europe's further diversification of energy supply sources.

In June of this year, Canada completed its first LNG export shipment from the LNG Canada project in British Columbia. The project is led by Shell, with Phase 1 designed capacity of approximately 14 million tonnes per year. It is Canada's first large-scale LNG export terminal and also North America's first large-scale facility capable of exporting LNG directly from the Pacific coast. Phase 2 of the project is advancing preparations for an investment decision. If implemented, liquefaction capacity will expand from approximately 14 million tonnes per year to approximately 28 million tonnes per year.

Canada's LNG commercial cooperation with Europe has already made tangible progress ahead of France. In May of this year, the proposed Ksi Lisims LNG project signed a long-term supply agreement with German state-owned energy company SEFE, providing for 1 million tonnes of LNG per year for a term of up to 20 years, with deliveries expected to begin in the early 2030s; in July, the project also signed a binding long-term LNG purchase agreement with Germany's Uniper. Ksi Lisims LNG is planned to have an annual export capacity of up to approximately 12 million tonnes.

Anand also mentioned that Canada and Germany had previously discussed LNG supply arrangements formed through third-party transactions, whereby LNG from Canada's West Coast could be sold to Asian markets while European buyers obtain supply benefits or alternative sources through global trading portfolios. At this stage, Canada-France LNG cooperation remains at the government-level cooperation discussion stage, and no long-term corporate offtake contract similar to that with Germany has yet been formed.