The business case for developing Canada’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector continues to strengthen, with Taiwan joining the ever-growing list of countries that have said they want or would consider buying Canadian-made LNG.
According to reporting by The Globe and Mail, Taiwan is “eager” to buy LNG from Canada when the opportunity is available, as the island nation looks to diversify its energy supplies.
Chern-Chyi Chen, Taiwan’s Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs, said that his nation's state-owned petroleum company is in close contact with LNG proponents in British Columbia. The senior government official said that Taiwan is open to investing in Canadian LNG projects.
“It might be something like now you need to invest in order to get the supply,” said Chen via The Globe and Mail.
“In that case, of course, we will be interested in investing for a guarantee of the supply.”
Mr. Chen said that Taiwan wants to generate half of its electricity from natural gas, up from 40 per cent currently. The small island nation imports almost all of its natural gas in liquid form from Australia, Qatar, the United States, and others.
“CPC Corporation will continue to search for opportunities with producers in British Columbia,” said Chen.
Taiwan’s Economic Affairs Ministry said it wants to build four more gasification terminals to receive LNG imports, bringing its total number of such facilities to six. It also wants to accumulate a 24-days’ worth of natural gas supply by 2027.
Taiwan already holds a 15% share of the LNG Canada project, set to begin full operations by mid-2025. Taiwan joins Japan and South Korea as likely importers of the 14 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG from Canada’s first large-scale liquefaction export facility.
Taiwan has joined a long list of other Asian and European countries that have expressed interest in obtaining Canada’s LNG.
In May, the Philippines’ top diplomat said his country was open to trade and investment opportunities with B.C. and Canada in several key areas, including LNG.
“But LNG [liquefied natural gas] is another area that we're exploring. In fact, we're having talks with countries … and are certainly open to having discussions with Canada or companies here. ... [We are] also focusing on other renewable energies such as wind and sun, so it's a total mix,” said Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo via reporting by the Prince George Citizen.
In April, Poland President Andrzej Duda said that his country would “of course, yes” be interested in Canadian LNG if it were made available via CTV News.
A month before, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greece’s Prime Minister, also said “of course” his country would look at purchasing Canadian-made LNG if there were the opportunity in an interview with CTV.
Government officials of Germany, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, and Ukraine all have also expressed a want or interest in obtaining Canada’s reliable and democratically produced LNG.
In August of 2022, Germany came to Canada looking for new LNG supply as the country looked to diversify away from less reliable sources. Chancellor Olaf Scholz left Canada with no promises; his country has since signed multiple deals with Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States.
Despite estimates that global LNG demand will grow 50% or more by 2040, Canada has yet to fully capitalize on the strong business case for LNG development. Sure, the West Coast has a handful of important projects underway, but it may still be years before these facilities begin operations, and others, like Ksi Lisims LNG, still have yet to receive full government approval.
Instead of layering more complex regulations like the oil and gas emissions cap onto LNG projects, Canada should do everything it can to expedite these developments. After all, a healthy LNG sector in B.C. could create $500 billion in economic activity, 96,550 more jobs a year, $6 billion in wages, and more than $150 billion in tax revenues between 2020 and 2064.
Canada needs a more robust economy. Canadians cannot afford to miss out on these immense economic opportunities at a time when many indicators point toward a struggling economy that isn’t keeping up with our peer nations.
As more countries seek to diversify their energy suppliers and find new sources from reliable, democratic producers, Canada stands uniquely positioned to meet growing global LNG demand — if only we could develop the necessary export infrastructure and capacity.
What are we waiting for?
We explain why the world desperately needs all the #CanadianLNG we can supply and how that helps Canadian families in this short video. pic.twitter.com/FLqtlzXxAm
— LNG Action (@LNGAction) November 12, 2024