German state-controlled energy group Uniper on Wednesday finalised a 20-year liquefied natural gas purchase deal with Canada as the two nations deepen their partnership.
In a preliminary deal in June, Uniper took initial steps to secure 2 million tons of gas per year from 2032 from Canada’s LNG project Ksi Lisims on British Columbia’s Pacific coast.
That was after another German state-owned gas importer, SEFE, secured some Ksi Lisims capacity in May. Uniper already agreed on long-term purchases with Canada’s Tourmaline a year ago.
Those deals reflect European ambitions to bolster alternative gas routes after former main supplier, Russia’s Gazprom, stopped delivering in 2022, creating reliance on U.S. supplies.
Ksi Lisims is backed by Western LNG, the Rockies LNG consortium and the Nisga’a First Nation. Gas liquefaction will be powered by hydroelectric dams.
Reuters reported in March that Uniper was discussing more gas purchases with Canada, also to diversify away from U.S. supplies that accounted for 96% of Germany’s LNG imports last year.
Canada is keen to reduce dependency on U.S. buyers with export deals involving Japan, India and Malaysia.
Canada this month picked Germany’s TKMS to supply 12 submarines – seen as a likely trigger of follow-up contracts including on rare earths, batteries or energy.
(Reporting by Holger Hansen, writing by Ludwig Burger, editing by Thomas Seythal)