Europe Embracing Canada While Shunning America & Russia

War comes at a cost as the Americans and Russians are learnning the hardway. The group behind Ksi Lisims hasn’t yet reached a final investment decision to start construction. But the project has already received regulatory approval, and its investors want to build a facility capable of producing 12 million metric tons a year of LNG. Ksi Lisims LNG is backed by Blackstone Inc.-funded Western LNG, as well as Rockies LNG Partners and the Nisga’a Nation, an Indigenous group that owns the development land. Canadian Energy Minister Tim Hodgson, speaking in a recent interview with Bloomberg News, said European nations are actively looking for a reliable supply of gas to replace flows from Russia and the Middle East, which have been disrupted by war. Asked whether west coast LNG could be shipped from Canada to Europe through the Panama Canal, Hodgson said there are multiple options. “Some ships will go through Panama, some will go around, some they’ll just trade” to other buyers, in return for LNG cargoes that are closer to Europe, he said. European countries don’t want to become overly reliant on American gas, the minister said — partly because of trade tensions with the Trump administration but also because they want the security that comes with having a range of suppliers. “We can be that alternative,” Hodgson said. “We can be that reliable supplier who will not use energy for coercion.” That could eventually take the form of LNG being shipped via Canada’s east coast or through Hudson Bay in the north, but in the near term, “we have huge increases in supply coming off the west coast, which are music to their ears.” Ultimately, it makes sense for Canada and Europe to become closer energy partners at a time when global superpowers are looking to use trade as a tool of geopolitical coercion, Hodgson said. “They’re looking around and saying, how do we create energy security?” he said. “Where can we find a supplier who shares our values? And they look around and they don’t see a lot of choices.” Russia has always sucked. America is starting to suck. Long Live CANADA!!! PG