Kanadas zweite Chance im globalen LNG-Rennen

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François Poirier is hoping that Canada will take advantage of a second chance to become one of the global leaders in exporting liquefied natural gas.

The chief executive officer of TC Energy Corp. TRP-T believes that Canada could be well-positioned to diversify its economy by further tapping into massive reserves of natural gas.

“You’re competing on the global stage for a time-bound opportunity,” Mr. Poirier said during an interview at TC’s head office in Calgary. “When I think about economic sovereignty, I think about the importance of Canada to be competitive.”

The Canadian government’s quest to boost economic sovereignty has been amplified over the past couple of weeks by the war in Iran and the ripple effects from the Middle East, including Qatar’s suspension of its LNG production during the virtual shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz.

The United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Feb. 28. Before those strikes, roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and LNG passed through the Strait of Hormuz. Global prices for oil and LNG spiked after the assaults.

Canada is playing catch-up with the U.S., where eight LNG export terminals have opened since 2016, and another four are slated to be operating by 2028.

The only LNG export terminal running so far in this country is the Shell PLC-led LNG Canada project in Kitimat, B.C.

Canada is the world’s fifth-largest producer of natural gas, but it ranked 19th out of 24 countries in exporting LNG last year.

TC, one of North America’s largest energy infrastructure companies, operates the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which transports natural gas from northeast B.C. to LNG Canada’s terminal in Kitimat.

Shell and four other LNG Canada co-owners are expected to make a final investment decision by the end of this year on whether to forge ahead with Phase 2 expansion plans, which would require increased capacity from the 670-kilometre Coastal GasLink pipeline.

While Canada missed the boat a decade ago during the first wave of LNG export opportunities from North America, Mr. Poirier thinks the time is ripe to take advantage of the second wave.

“The opportunity has come back around again, because of geopolitics and just surging demand for natural gas. And so we have a chance to dominate, and we have to go after it.”

Mr. Poirier made the comments during the interview with The Globe and Mail in late February. He followed up with an e-mailed statement to The Globe in March.

“The events unfolding in the Middle East underscore how fragile global energy systems can be – and why energy security matters,” he said. “Periods of geopolitical disruption reinforce the importance of reliable, diversified energy supply. As global trade is disrupted and countries seek to diversify energy sources, dependable LNG plays an increasingly stabilizing role in the system.”

Qatar has suspended its LNG production after Iran targeted its energy facilities and shut down passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

One-fifth of the world’s oil and LNG passed through the Strait of Hormuz prior to the joint U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran on Feb. 28.

The Middle East conflict has raised the political and economic stakes. The oil and gas shipping choke point is the Strait of Hormuz, which is just 33 kilometres wide at its narrowest. The strait separates the Persian Gulf from the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean, and the vast majority of energy exports from the region pass through it.

The lack of LNG supplies from Qatar has sent pricing shocks across the global industry.

“A disruption of this magnitude exposes how little flexibility exists in global LNG markets,” Josephine Mills, senior analyst at Enverus Intelligence Research, said in a statement.

Benchmark LNG spot prices for Asia-Pacific markets have jumped about 50 per cent over the past two weeks.

As the U.S. trade war persists, the federal and B.C. governments have characterized LNG exports to Asia as a crucial way for Canada to reduce economic dependence on American customers.

Mr. Poirier views plans by companies to expand Canadian energy export capacity as nation-building endeavours, sounding a patriotic chord that comes decades after a flurry of pipeline construction in the 1950s.

TC will celebrate its 75th anniversary next week. On March 21, 1951, TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. was incorporated through a special act of Parliament. TCPL, as it became known, constructed a pipeline in the 1950s to move natural gas from Alberta to Ontario and then into Quebec.

That pipeline triggered a huge political controversy in Ottawa, with the federal Liberal government lending U.S. companies money to help build along an all-Canadian route. The U.S. involvement was a flashpoint, and the Progressive Conservatives defeated the Liberals in the 1957 election, ending the party’s nearly 22 years in power.

TCPL changed its name in 2003 to TransCanada Corp, which in turn changed its name in 2019 to TC Energy Corp., reflecting how its operations had shifted over the decades beyond Canada and into the U.S. and Mexico, as well as venturing into power generation, mostly in Canada.

With power generation, Mr. Poirier sees opportunities within Canada for the construction of new data centres, which would increase demand for natural-gas-fired electricity.

David Finch, a Calgary-based energy historian, said the nation-building theme today differs from the earlier period in geographical aspirations. “In the 1950s, it was about continental access. What we’re talking about now is international access,” he said.

The original Trans Mountain oil pipeline was also built in the 1950s, stretching from the Edmonton area to the Vancouver region.

Overshadowed by all the talk of LNG exports is growth in production of natural gas liquids such as propane and butane.

Throughout Trudeau’s tenure he has said a lot of funny things, but „*never been a strong business case*“ is working its way up to be the funniest one lol

Rather than copy the article just post the archive.ph link

https://archive.ph/qFSNX

Sorry, according to a previous Canadian leader, there is no business case.

To add more context on the first chance.

LNG Canada’s First Shipment Looms; Meanwhile the U.S. Cashes in Billions While Canada Sits at Zero.

the US LNG industry has contributed $408 billion to US GDP since 2016, supporting an average of 273,000 direct, indirect, and induced US jobs.

[https://boereport.com/2025/04/03/lng-canadas-first-shipment-looms-meanwhile-the-u-s-cashes-in-billions-while-canada-sits-at-zero-can-canada-catch-up/](https://boereport.com/2025/04/03/lng-canadas-first-shipment-looms-meanwhile-the-u-s-cashes-in-billions-while-canada-sits-at-zero-can-canada-catch-up/)