Page 4 - AsianOil Week 08 2023

AsianOil COMMENTARY AsianOil

Canadian flip-flopping on LNG

leaves Japan, Korea hanging

Despite the potential, there is a reluctance in Canada to commit to large-scale LNG export projects.

CANADA-ASIA AT a recent webinar attended by ambassadors LNG-hungry customers on the opposite side of
from both Japan and South Korea in addi- the North Pacific, Canadian LNG infrastructure
WHAT: tion to a number of high-ranking Canadian has largely stagnated over the past ten years.
Japan and South Korea energy officials, Tokyo’s envoy to Ottawa, Kanji This is despite Canadian Prime Minister Jus-
are reaching out to Yamanouchi, said: “if everything goes well, by tin Trudeau in 2018 working to publicise a huge
Canada as a source of the end of 2024, the first shipment of LNG will $40bn investment in LNG Canada; a project he
additional LNG supply. be will be sent to Japan.” now seems to have lost interest in altogether.
“That will be a game-changer” the career dip- Sources indicate that just one of around 15
WHY: lomat added. LNG proposals initiated in north-west Can-
Amid the current energy The much-anticipated coming together of ada in recent years remains active; the Kitimat
crisis, both countries are representatives from the trans-Pacific nations project now being pursued by Japanese and
starved of affordable LNG. was sponsored by the Canada West Foundation Korean officials. The rest have reportedly been
to help cater to Japanese and more recent Korean abandoned.
WHAT NEXT: attempts to source Canadian LNG in the years Whether or not this is merely a reluctance to
Canada has been slow to ahead. add to existing LNG terminals by investors, or a
develop its LNG potential, Yet while optimists in the two Asian capitals lack of government interest in exporting one of
but the hope is that the are hoping to see the first Western Canadian the nation’s major natural resources is a question
first Canadian LNG cargo gas imports from Kitimat coming into port in bemusing regional analysts.
will arrive in Japan in the not too distant future, questions remain as “Like many, I was disappointed to see little or
2024. to whether or not Canada will be able to supply no commitment at a federal level to increasing
them. efforts to supply LNG to our reliable allies in
At the crux of the matter is Canada’s apparent Asia, particularly in these uncertain times,” vice
reluctance to build any more large-scale LNG chairman and Calgary managing partner for one
export terminals. of the webinar sponsors, Patrick Maguire, said.
According to Dulles Wang, the director of Japan’s deputy director and legal counsel at
Americas Gas and LNG Research, at Wood Mac- the Japan Organisation for Metals and Energy
kenzie, “the market potential in Korea and Japan Security (JOGMEC), Kenryo Mizutani, has
is just tremendous.” previously pointed out that Canada’s declared
Unfortunately, even with the guaranteed energy sufficiency is around 180%

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