OTTAWA: Canada has reached a deal to export liquefied natural gas to Germany from a proposed Pacific Coast terminal, AP reported.
Canada will sign the agreement with Germany’s SEFE Group, short for Securing Energy for Europe, from the proposed KSI Lisims export facility on the coast of British Columbia.
Up to 1 million metric tons (1.1 million U.S. tons) of liquefied natural gas will be exported per year, the official said.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has set a goal to double non-U.S. trade within a decade. Oil and gas-rich Canada currently exports nearly all of its energy oil and gas to the United States.
Earlier Tuesday, British Columbia Premier David Eby said a deal to supply Canadian LNG to Germany would be a key step toward the partners behind the Ksi Lisims project deciding to move forward with their 10 billion Canadian dollar (US$7.2 billion) plant and export terminal.
The Ksi Lisims terminal, located on Pearse Island along the border with Alaska, has the necessary permits, but the consortium has yet to make a final investment decision to allow construction to begin.
Eby said securing offtake agreements with buyers is a critical milestone before Ksi Lisims can proceed.
The partnership has already signed supply agreements with a unit of London-based Shell and France-based TotalEnergies.
SEFE is a leading German energy utility and the former German subsidiary of Gazprom. Germany nationalized the company in 2022 as Europe struggled with an energy crisis tied to the war in Ukraine and more recently the Middle East conflict.
As European countries supported Ukraine, Russia slashed natural gas supplies used for heating homes, generating electricity and powering industry, triggering an energy crisis that fueled inflation and forced some factories to shut down as prices spiked.
Germany was a major importer of Russian gas before the war.
