The LNG tanker GasLog Glasgow prepares to depart LNG Canada’s shipping terminal in Kitimat, B.C., on June 30. (Credit: Handout\/LNG Canada) <\/p>\n
A tanker carrying Canada\u2019s first major shipment of liquefied natural gas<\/a> has arrived at a South Korean port, ushering in a new era for Canadian energy exports that some had feared would never come, as the country\u2019s natural gas reaches new buyers in premium Asian-Pacific markets.<\/p>\n A vessel called the GasLog Glasgow delivered the historic shipment from LNG Canada<\/a>\u2018s terminal in Kitimat, B.C. The analytics firm MarineTraffic shows the Shell PLC<\/a>-chartered tanker arrived at a major import terminal and storage base in Tongyeong, South Korea shortly after 10 a.m. local time on July 17.<\/p>\n Though it is the world\u2019s fifth-largest producer of natural gas \u2212 with a significantly shorter sailing time to Asian markets compared to competitors on the United States Gulf coast \u2014 Canada is a late entry to global LNG markets, nearly a decade after the U.S. and around three decades after Australia and Qatar.<\/p>\n Until this week, proponents of the sector had lamented that all of Canada\u2019s natural gas exports, averaging around 8.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf\/d) in 2024, are delivered via pipeline to the U.S.<\/p>\n But that is now set to change as LNG Canada continues its ramp-up.<\/p>\n Two other tankers have left LNG Canada\u2019s terminal and remain in transit, heading to ports in Japan and South Korea. In total, the B.C. terminal has shipped\u00a011 billion cubic feet of natural gas since the facility was commissioned, RBC Capital Markets reported in a research note published Wednesday. The bank based its estimate on the total capacities of the three vessels that have departed from Kitimat so far.<\/p>\n A fourth vessel \u2014 Petro-China-chartered tanker called WuDang \u2014 is in the port of Kitimat awaiting loading, RBC said. And three more vessels are expected to arrive to load shipments in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n