LNG Canada has completed the cooldown of its liquefied natural gas plant in Kitimat, British Columbia, and is preparing for the plant to produce its first LNG in June, two people familiar with the process told Reuters.
Cooling an LNG plant to test how its machinery expands and contracts is a critical step to ensuring the safe production of the super-chilled gas and critical step prior to beginning operations.
LNG Canada is the country’s first LNG export facility and when completed is expected to produce 14 million metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) for export.
LNG Canada confirmed that the Maran Gas Roxana, which on April 1 brought a shipment of LNG to the plant, departed on Saturday.
“The LNG was required for equipment testing and cool down of the facility, which is critical for our commissioning and safe start-up process in advance of operations,” LNG Canada said on Monday.
LNG Canada started flaring in April and said it will continue into May. Flaring will occur while systems are tested, LNG Canada said.
“We anticipate the flare height will vary between approximately 20 meters and 50 meters (65-164 ft) until May 15,” LNG Canada said in a notice.
Once operational, the plant will give Canadian energy firms another outlet for their production, facilitating sales to other countries. For now, the U.S. is the only outlet for Canadian gas.
Canada exported about 8.6 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of gas via pipelines to the U.S. in 2024, up from 8.0 bcfd in 2023 and an average of 7.5 bcfd between 2018 and 2022, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
LNG Canada is a joint venture of Shell, Petronas, PetroChina, Mitsubishi Corporation and Kogas.
(Reporting by Curtis Williams in Houston; Editing by Liz Hampton and Marguerita Choy)