Chevron asks NEB for licence to nearly double Kitimat LNG project

Chevron Canada has applied to the National Energy Board to nearly double the potential size of the Kitimat LNG facility it hopes to build with Australian partner Woodside Energy.

In a filing dated Monday and posted on the NEB website, the Canadian branch of California-based giant Chevron Corp. says it is applying for a 40-year licence to export up to 28.23 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year, with commissioning of the facility taking place by 2029.

That's the equivalent of about 18 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas and is nearly double the 10-million-tonne, 20-year licence it was previously granted, which is set to expire at the end of this year.

In a statement, the company says the increase in scope comes after a review that focused on improving the project's "cost of supply competitiveness" relative to other LNG projects around the world.

The partners have not made a final investment decision, nor have they set a date to do so, but the expanded project is seen as another hopeful sign for B.C.'s nascent LNG industry after the LNG Canada consortium announced last fall it would proceed with its $40-billion, 14-million-tonne-per-year project, also to be built near Kitimat.

The new plan for Kitimat LNG envisions initially building two six-million-tonne production "trains" with the option to add a third later, as opposed to the original two-train proposal.