Page 9 - NorthAmOil Week 02 2023

NorthAmOil POLICY NorthAmOil

Japanese Prime
Minister Fumio Kishida
and Canadian Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau

Japanese Prime Minister

to talk gas in Canada

CANADA-JAPAN AHEAD of the first official visit to Canada this Canada has been lobbying member countries
week by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, for access to what is essentially an organisation
political commentators expected talks on future offering established supply chains and tax infra-
LNG supplies to Tokyo to feature prominently. structure around the Pacific.
And with Japan having succeeded to the role At the crux of any guarantees on LNG exports
of Group of Seven president as from January will be LNG Canada, the first LNG export facility
1, the country is paying attention to Kishida’s built in the country, in which both Japanese and
efforts to guarantee future shipments of Cana- South Korean players have invested. The facility
dian LNG. is located in Kitimat, around 650 km north-west
For Canada, meanwhile, Kishida is the of Vancouver, British Columbia. Initial pro-
first Asian leader to visit the country follow- jections had the terminal set to come online in
ing its launch of a new Indo-Pacific strategy in 2024 but delays by the Canadian government
November. and lockdowns in response to the coronavirus
Both Japan and Canada in recent months (COVID-19) pandemic are thought to have
have been working to counter Chinese influence combined to push this date back to 2025.
in the north-east Asian region, albeit with Japan When complete the LNG Canada site will
still dependent on energy exports from Chinese include a pair of gas liquefaction plants, with
ally Russia. Indeed, Japan was given an exemp- a combined capacity of 14mn tonnes per year
tion last year for caps on the price of Russian oil (tpy).
by the G7. Shareholders in the project include Shell with
Speaking to Canadian media, Business a 40% interest, while Malaysia’s Petronas holds a
Council of Canada vice-president for interna- 25% stake. Japan’s Mitsubishi holds 15%, as does
tional policy Trevor Kennedy said Kishida would PetroChina, and Korea Gas (KOGAS) controls
be looking for assurances from Ottawa on future the remaining 5%.
LNG supplies. Last month, Canadian Minister of Foreign
“They’re stuck in a situation where they’re Affairs Melanie Joly said she wanted to steer the
sourcing their LNG from Russia, and they don’t country “as close to Korea and to Japan as we are
have another option,” Kennedy said. He also to Germany, France and Great Britain”. This was
noted that Japanese energy officials accompa- echoed more recently by Japanese Ministry of
nying Kishida would likely raise the issue of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Minister
future hydrogen deals with their counterparts Yasutoshi Nishimura.
in Canada. “There is a risk involved in relying excessively
Rather than being seen as a trip only aimed upon a single country economically,” Nishimura
at securing Canadian support for LNG exports, said in comments seen as an allusion to Russian
however, officials in Japan have pointed to the influence on Japan’s energy supplies as well as
possibility of a trade-off. Chinese influence on Canadian trade in Asia.
Support for Canadian hopes to join the wider Nishimura added that Japan now fears that risk
Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosper- “more intensely than ever”.™
ity could potentially be on offer. In recent months

Week 02 12•January•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P9