From Resource Works

By Geoff Russ

Canada misjudged the future of LNG, but we should still strive to salvage our current situation.

Mark Carney hasn’t been in office long, but his pivot on liquefied natural gas (LNG) may be one of his defining decisions. For years Ottawa said there was “no businesshttps://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/8/22/canada-would-need-business-case-for-lng-exports-to-europe-pmcase” for Canadian LNG, a phrase first uttered by Justin Trudeau in 2022 when Germany’s Olaf Scholz came knocking for alternatives to Russian gas.

That hesitation left Canada sitting idle while allies signed long-term contracts with Qatar, the United States, and Australia. Now, after years of missed opportunities, Carney is betting LNG can be both an economic strength and a foreign policy tool.

The question is whether Canada can move fast enough.

Europe’s appetite for LNG is not hypothetical. Germany has built four terminals since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the latest opening in Wilhelmshaven in May.

Europe’s LNG imports reached near-record highs this past winter, pulling cargoes away from Asia where demand softened. In January alone, Europe imported nearly 12 million tonnes, while United States cargoes hit record levels.

Half of Europe’s LNG comes from the Gulf Coast. That infrastructure advantage, billions of dollars worth of liquefaction plants, pipelines, and tankers, is something Canada does not have.

Canada has only just begun. LNG Canada in Kitimat shipped its first cargo in July, a milestone nearly a decade in the making.

Six projects are on the drawing board. If all are built, Canadian capacity would hit 50 million tonnes a year, still half the United States total but enough to matter in a global market where even small shifts in supply mean billions of dollars and hard power gains.

Carney’s government is framing this as a nation-building moment. His Building Canada Act (Bill C-5) gives cabinet the ability to fast-track major projects deemed in the national interest.

In Europe last week, he teased upcoming announcements, hinting port expansions in Montreal, the East Coast, and Churchill, Manitoba could be among the first out the gate.

Churchill, Canada’s only deepwater Arctic port connected by rail, has long been written off as a grain terminal with a short summer season. But Indigenous-led Arctic Gateway has been expanding its capacity, with the first critical minerals shipped last year and new talks underway to evaluate year-round operations.

Turning Churchill into an LNG port would be no small task. Icebreakers, new jetties, and upgraded pipelines would be required. But Carney calls it “essentially a new port” that could unlock LNG and critical minerals exports to Europe.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has signed on as a way to connect prairie energy and resources to the world, and Fednav, one of the few shipping firms with Arctic ice experience, has signed on to explore year-round access.

Skeptics point to the obstacles. Shipping windows in Hudson Bay are limited, and investors remember the 670 billion dollars in cancelled resource projects since 2015.

Spain’s Repsol abandoned its Saint John LNG conversion plan in 2023 citing costs. Critics argue if Canada could not make East Coast LNG work, then why would Churchill?

Carney’s answer is demand. Germany under Chancellor Friedrich Merz has taken a pragmatic line: it needs gas and lots of it, even as it invests in renewables and hydrogen. Brussels has committed to reducing Russian imports, but that gap must be filled from somewhere.

That is where British Columbia comes in. The west coast projects once seen as solely Asian-bound are now strategic for Europe too.

The Panama Canal provides a shorter shipping lane to Atlantic ports, and Canadian LNG is marketed as having the lowest carbon footprint in the world, a selling point in a Europe still tied to its climate goals.

Energy Minister Tim Hodgson says “there are buyers” and describes LNG as a cornerstone of Canada’s ambition to be an “energy superpower.”

Canada’s misjudgment of LNG was costly. Had exports been flowing between 2020 and 2022, analysts say Canadian gas could have displaced an entire year’s worth of Canada’s emissions by replacing coal abroad.

Instead, Asian and European utilities leaned on dirtier fuels and allies turned elsewhere. The United States and Qatar seized the moment. Canada said no.

Now the calculus has changed. Trump’s trade war has made diversification urgent. European allies are asking again, and this time Carney is listening.

Infrastructure on both coasts, from Kitimat to Churchill, may finally put Canada into the LNG game it once sat out.

The opportunity is still there, but hesitation is no longer an option. For Canada LNG is not just about moving gas molecules. It is about sovereignty, power, and resilience.

It is about whether we can still do big projects. And it is about whether we will finally turn our natural resources into real clout.

From the Canadian Energy Centre

By Cody Ciona

Nordegg looks forward to lower energy costs and improved reliability

More than a century after its founding, the former ghost town of Nordegg, Alta. is getting natural gas service, promising lower costs and more reliable energy for homes and businesses.

“Natural gas will be a huge game changer, especially for commercial use,” said Clearwater County Reeve Michelle Swanson.

The former coal mining town is no stranger to cold winters. During Alberta’s cold snap in January 2024, the hamlet broke its cold weather record reaching a bone chilling -45.8 degrees Celsius.

In the 1920s, Nordegg — tucked into the foothills of the Rockies about two hours west of Red Deer — was home to Alberta’s most productive coal mine, a fuel supply primarily for steam locomotives.

But demand declined following the Leduc No. 1 oil discovery in 1947, and the mine closed in 1955.

The population dwindled from a peak of nearly 3,000 people to as few as 27 at one point, said Swanson.

Today, about 90 people call the hamlet home, and the future is looking brighter.

“We’re slowly building up. We have more full time residents. We have businesses that are looking to locate there, a couple hotels. Tourism is the area’s primary industry,” Swanson said.

By adding access to natural gas and installing new fibre optic internet, Nordegg will be able to sustain new growth and attract development, she said.

In July, the Alberta government announced $2.5 million in funding to help build an 11-kilometre pipeline connecting the hamlet to a nearby gas plant. The $8-million project is also funded by the county and the Rocky Gas Co-Op.

With the new gas connection, residents could save up to 25 per cent on their utility bills, according to the province.

Swanson said that right now people in Nordegg get their energy from electricity, wood and propane.

“Electricity is the primary heat source, and your secondary is wood stoves and most of the businesses are also running off propane, because of the costs of electricity,” she said.

The biggest benefit of connecting to natural gas is reliability, she said.

“Number one is having the predictability that gas provides. It is going to be there on time. Propane, I mean, you can run out,” Swanson said.

Safety is another big factor in a region that can be prone to wildfires.

“I know our firefighters were worried that a wildfire could set off a lot of propane explosions, and that’s not helpful,” she said.

“At the end of the day to me, it’s all about the fact that you’re creating a safer community, and you’re having a more predictable fuel source.”

Pipeline construction began in February and is targeted for completion this fall.