Fluor Corp.’s engineering, procurement and construction joint venture. and Japan-based JGC Corp. has been given the go-ahead to resume its roles in executing the construction of the second phase of LNG Canada’s liquefied natural gas export facility in Kitimat, B.C., following a $23 billion final investment decision announced Sept. 29 by the Shell-led development consortium.
Fluor and JGC will evenly split the $15-billion EPC contract for the project, which aims to double the capacity of LNG Canada’s 14-million-tonne-a-year plant. Also built by the joint venture, this facility began production last year.
The expansion includes the construction and commissioning of two additional LNG processing units, known as trains; an additional LNG storage tank, condensate tank, loading dock and expanded process and utility systems. LNG Canada says the expansion will improve processing, storage and shipping capabilities to meet growing global demand for reliable LNG, particularly in the Asian market, which can generate more than $50 billion in government revenue over the life of the project.
“We are building our strength at home, gaining new trading partners abroad and catalyzing unprecedented levels of new investment in our major projects,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement, adding as a nod to his country’s fractured relationship with the US fueled by new tariffs and President Donald Trump’s amplified rhetoric. “This is what an energy superpower looks like when it decides to act like one.”
His statement comes as Canada works to reduce its reliance on the US export market, focusing instead on serving East Asian countries that would bring in more annual revenue and building its global profile as an energy supplier.
New generation energy
Located on British Columbia’s north coast about 140 kilometers southeast of the province’s border with the Alaska Peninsula, LNG Canada’s site benefits from access to abundant natural gas resources and an ice-free deepwater port on the edge of Douglas Channel.
Separately, LNG Canada and Alberta-based TC Energy have agreed to expand the existing 670 km Coastal GasLink pipeline, which connects the Kitimat plant to natural gas fields in northeastern British Columbia. To be operated by both companies, the project will double the pipeline’s current capacity of 2.1 billion cubic feet per day through the addition of five new compression stations and improvements to facilities along the route. The companies did not release an estimated cost for the line extension.
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While no date has been announced to begin full construction of LNG Canada, Fluor/JCG was given limited notice to proceed this June, following the completion of front-end design and engineering analysis for Phase 2. LNG Canada projects that the Kitimat plant will operate at its full production capacity of 28 million tonnes per year in the early 2030s.
In a move aimed at further boosting Canada’s position as a global energy supplier, Carney has designated the proposed West Coast Pacific Link pipeline as the country’s first “project of national interest” under the Build Canada Act.
According to Carney’s Oct. 1 announcement, the designation expedites environmental assessments and other approvals for the 1,200 km connection between southern Alberta and British Columbia’s Vancouver-area refineries, with construction slated to begin in the fall of 2027 and full operation in 2033.
Cost estimates for the project have ranged from around $31 billion.
The Alberta government and federally-owned Trans Mountain Corp. would each own 45 percent of the pipeline. Calgary, Alberta-based Pembina Pipeline Corp. would have a 10 percent stake during the construction phase.
In addition to adding another resource to Canada’s oil export portfolio, Carney’s action is seen as a means to encourage Alberta residents to vote against a non-binding measure calling on the provincial government to begin the legal process of separating from Canada.
This referendum is scheduled for October 19.
