Minister says Canada's LNG attracts German interest in market swaps

German companies want to swap Canadian LNG cargos off the Pacific Coast to meet European demand. Canada's Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodson announced this on Wednesday.

Canada, the fifth largest natural gas producer in the world, exported its first ever liquefied gas in June. The LNG Canada facility, led by Shell, is located in British Columbia and is the only North American LNG export location with direct access into the Pacific Ocean.

Hodgson, a reporter at the Associated Press, said that European buyers are also interested in these cargoes.

Hodgson told a Berlin press conference that "many of the buyers were prepared to purchase LNG from the West Coast of Canada, and then trade it on the international market in exchange for LNG."

Mark Carney, the Canadian Prime Minister, said that Canada would discuss with Germany ways of supplying LNG.

Canada has not proposed any LNG export facilities with direct access to Atlantic Ocean. Any such project would be expensive and take many years to complete. The tone of the Carney administration is markedly different from that used by Justin Trudeau as former prime minister, who claimed there was no business case for Canada exporting LNG to Europe. Trudeau cited costs and difficulties in building the infrastructure needed to transport the gas from Western Canada up to the East Coast. Rod Nickel edited the report by David Ljunggren, Ottawa. Amanda Stephenson reported from Calgary.

(source: Reuters)