Shell’s LNG Canada moving forward with commissioning activities

“LNG Canada will take delivery of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo in early April at its marine terminal in Kitimat, British Columbia for equipment testing,” the JV said in a notice on Thursday.

LNG Canada said this delivery is “critical to our safe start-up and commissioning process now underway, and to achieving our first cargo by the middle of 2025.”

The JV noted that most modern LNG projects receive LNG in their commissioning and start-up processes.

“Introducing LNG to our facility is required to cool our LNG tank and operate equipment at cryogenic (low temperature) conditions in early testing,” it said.

LNG Canada said the carrier’s name and other vessel details will be shared “when we have that information.”

Once at the facility, LNG Canada expects that the discharge may take three to four weeks to complete.

Last year, LNG Canada also received a cargo of refrigerants (liquefied petroleum gas) onboard the tanker Gaschem Atlantic for cooldown activities.

Shell’s finance chief, Sinead Gorman, recently confirmed that Shell still expects to launch its LNG Canada export terminal in the middle of this year.

One of the largest private investments in Canadian history, LNG Canada will initially produce 14 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) LNG for export. With a proposed Phase 2 expansion, it plans to double its capacity to 28 mtpa.

Besides operator Shell, other partners in the project include Malaysia’s Petronas, PetroChina, Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation, and South Korea’s Kogas.

In August 2024, LNG Canada introduced natural gas to the facility for the first time, from the new Coastal GasLink pipeline.

Contractor JGC Fluor is constructing the first phase of the project that includes two liquefaction trains.