Canaport LNG given permission to export via tankers

Saint John's Canaport liquefied natural gas terminal has been given permission by the provincial Department of Environment to export natural gas using tankers.

The approved application will give Canaport LNGthe ability to look for better markets for its product worldwide, said companyspokesperson Kate Shannon.

But there areno immediate plans for loaded tankers to leave the Bay of Fundy, she said.

"There's really no time line for when we would startor if we would start," Shannon told CBC News on Tuesday.

"It's basicallythere as an option, just in case," she said. "We may start it this winter, or it may not happen at all."

Uses pipelines for export

Canaport, which opened in 2009, currentlyimports liquefied natural gasfrom locations such as Qatar and Trinidad by tankers, restores it to its original gaseous form through a process called regasification,and moves it by pipeline to American and Canadian markets.

Now it could be shipped out to global markets with better selling prices,said Shannon. "This gives us more flexibility."

Marco Navarro-Genie, president of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies in Halifax,says domestic production from hydraulic fracturing has pushed prices down.

"To be able to receive fairly reasonable pricedgas from a place like Trinidad and export it to the far East may be reasonably profitable," he said.

Canaport's move to exporting ability comes after the completion of a two-year upgrade.

A gas flare has been permanently shut down and anew building now pushes burned off gas directly into the pipeline.

Canaport LNG is a partnership between Repsol and Irving Oil Ltd.

The terminal currently has a maximum send out capacity of 1.2 billion cubic feet (BCF) or 28 million cubic metres of natural gas per day, according to the company's website.

The gas is used for home heating and cooking, generating electricity and numerousindustrial purposes.