Energy Minister Tim Hodgson said proposals for gas exports to Europe are still in early stages and “no route is mapped out for sure.”
Canadian Energy Minister Tim Hodgson reportedly stated that the new government is taking steps toward shipping natural gas to Europe and took a jab at the former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration for not doing the same.
“Unlike the previous Canadian government, which closed the door to LNG exports, Prime Minister Carney’s government has opened it,” Hodgson said in the prepared text remarks that he will deliver at the Canadian embassy in Berlin, as per a Bloomberg News report.
His remarks indicate how the ruling Liberal government’s stance has shifted ever since Trudeau stepped down ahead of the election due to public anger over the cost-of-living crisis.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has been in Europe this week, touring Poland, Ukraine, Germany, and Latvia in his efforts to strengthen ties with allies on the continent amid an ongoing trade war with the United States, its largest trading partner.
“The new Canadian federal government has made a conscious choice to re-center energy and critical minerals in how we think about not only our domestic affairs, but Canada’s place in the world,” former Goldman Sachs executive Hodgson reportedly said.
Retail sentiment on Stocktwits about Canadian energy firms Enbridge and Canadian Natural Resources was in the ‘bearish’ territory, while traders were ‘neutral’ about Arc Resources.
According to the report, Hodgson stated that proposals for gas exports to Europe are still in the early stages and “no route is mapped out for sure.”
“But any proponent who comes forward with a project that features good economics and buy-in from their province and Indigenous people, we will take a good look at,” he added.
Germany had previously shown interest in buying LNG from Canada’s East Coast following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, the Canadian government at that time had flagged difficulties with an export facility due to the distance between the East Coast and the gas production facilities on the West Coast.
There are seven LNG export projects and one infrastructure project in various stages of development in Canada, with a potential production capacity of 50.3 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG. However, all of them are located in British Columbia.
Hodgson reportedly said that the northern port of Churchill, Manitoba, could be utilized to ship LNG and other cargoes to Europe.
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