LNG Canada 2023 Year-End Update

I’m proud to present LNG Canada’s 2023 year-end update.

It’s been an exceptionally busy and productive year for LNG Canada and our prime subcontractor, the JGC-Fluor joint venture and its subcontractors. I want to acknowledge every individual who contributed their skills and unwavering commitment to safety to the LNG Canada project again this year.

We reached our peak construction cycle this past fall, with more than 8,000 Canadians employed at our gas liquification and export facility in Kitimat, British Columbia, in the traditional territory of the Haisla Nation. We’ve installed all 215 of the large modules required for our gas liquification process and completed other critical work scopes, safely. Our Kitimat facility is now more than 85% complete over-all.

HaiSea Marine, the unique, Haisla-led joint venture that will operate and maintain low and zero-emissions tugboats in service of our LNG shipping operations, has already taken possession of several of its new vessels. Meanwhile, TC Energy recently announced that the Coastal GasLink project, which will deliver natural gas to our facility, is mechanically complete, ahead of schedule.

We’re now preparing for safe start-up activities to begin in 2024. That’s when our equipment is tested and fine-tuned, and we begin the process of producing LNG. Our safe start-up program will take more than a year to complete; we’ll continue to keep local communities and First Nations informed of its progress. This work must be undertaken before we can start shipping our LNG abroad. We remain well-positioned to deliver our first cargoes of lower-carbon, made-in-B.C. LNG by the middle of this decade.

We work hard to keep our local stakeholders informed and aware of our activities. That means listening to their concerns, acting on their suggestions, and responding to their needs. Since we began our journey to launch an LNG industry in Canada, we’ve contributed more than $11 million to community-based programs, services and infrastructure, benefiting Kitimat, Terrace and local First Nations, helping enhance and introduce new public amenities, services and infrastructure for local children, teachers, hospital staff and patients, seniors and newcomers alike.

Across our organization, we continue to look for ways to participate in reconciliation. That includes economic reconciliation. To date, LNG Canada and its contractors and subcontractors have awarded more than $4.2 billion in contracts and procurement to business in British Columbia. Of that amount, more than $3.3 billion has been awarded to First Nations-owned businesses and local area businesses.

We also continue to welcome people to the LNG Canada team–skilled individuals, many born and raised locally–who will be operating our facility for decades to come.

LNG Canada is designed to be the best, lowest carbon-producing liquified natural gas facility of its size, anywhere in the world. We’re determined to set the benchmark for safe, reliable, and environmentally responsible LNG production, and to help countries transition from high-emissions energy sources such as coal.

Together with our five joint venture participants, we continue to explore and advance opportunities to provide more local benefits and energy to the world with our proposed Phase 2 expansion. And while LNG Canada will be Canada’s first LNG export facility, we’re also helping pave the way for new, Indigenous-led  LNG projects in B.C.

It’s been an exceptional year and there’s lots to look forward to. We’re excited and honoured to continue this the journey with you. On behalf of the entire LNG Canada organization, I wish you a safe and enjoyable holiday season.

Jason Klein, Chief Executive Officer, LNG Canada