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Canadian Natural Gas Exports

Natural Gas in Canada As of January 2011, Canadas natural gas reserves were estimated at 62 trillion cubic feet. The supply of conventional natural gas is declining but recent technological innovations have made extraction of unconventional natural gas more feasible. Canada is the third largest exporter of natural gas, behind Russia and Norway. With the North American gas market saturated for the foreseeable future, natural gas companies are turning to Asia for new opportunities. Exporting Natural Gas to Asia Natural gas must be liquefied before being transported overseas. The liquefaction process reduces natural gas to 1/600th of its original volume, making it economical to transport liquefied natural gas (LNG) to overseas markets. Exporting natural gas to Asia would involve the following stages:
Export Liquefaction Terminal and Storage

Natural Gas Producers


By Country (2009) % of world total 19.2%

Net Natural Gas Exporters


By Country (2009) BCM

1.USA 2. Russia 3.Canada 4. Iran 5. Norway

1. Russia 2. Norway 3. Canada 4. Qatar 5. Algeria

26177 21669 6954 6928 6579

19.0% 5.1% 4.6% 3.4%

Unconventional Natural Gas The term unconventional natural gas refers to gas extracted from coalbed methane, tight gas sands, gas shales and gas hydrates It is the unique characteristics of these gas reservoirs that make natural gas drawn from them unconventional

Extraction from Gas Basin

Gas pipeline

Shipped by LNG Tanker to...

Import Regasification Terminal in Asia

Canadas Current LNG Export Status and Proposed Export Terminals Canada does not currently have any LNG export terminals.6 Canadian gas exports to the United States are transported directly via pipeline. Any Canadian plans to export LNG to Asia would require the construction of a LNG export terminal. There are two proposals for exporting natural gas from Canadas west coast: I. Kitimat LNG is a partnership between Apache Canada Ltd., EOG Resources Canada and EnCana Corp. This proposal includes a 20-year export license to sell LNG to Asia. The partners propose building a 463 km pipeline from Summit Lake, BC (near Prince George) to Kitimat, BC. The C$4.5 billion project also includes a LNG liquefaction terminal, storage and send-out facilities onsite in Kitimat. The terminal would be operational by 2015, and would process 700 million cubic feet per day and ship 5 million tonnes of LNG by 2015, with the potential to grow to 10 million tonnes by 2017-2018. II. BC LNG Export Cooperative LLC is a partnership between LNG Partners LLC and the Haisla First Nation. The proposal is to draw upon unused capacity in Pacific Northern Gass existing pipeline, with the aim of exporting 125 million cubic feet per day by 2013. Both proposals are currently under consideration for regulatory approval by the National Energy Board.
Sources: US Energy Information Administration, International Energy Statistics Canadian Gas Association, North American Natural Gas Supply International Energy Agency. 2010 World Energy Statistics. Natural Resources Canada, Natural Gas: A Primer, Liquefied Natural Gas and Canadian LNG Import and Export Projects Update. Journal of Commerce, Export facility inches closer to constructions, August 1, 2011. Alberta Oil Magazine, Hearing to be held for BC LNG Project, July 27, 2011. Alberta Oil Magazine, A West Coast LNG proposal revives old fear, August 1, 2011.

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