CALGARY — This month, LNG Canada has ramped up production and exports to Asia amid the US–Israeli war with Iran threatening Asia’s natural gas supplies.Reuters reports that the LNG project in Kitimat, BC — which began operations in June 2025 — has already exported six cargoes in the first 11 days of March, surpassing half of its total shipments from February.These shipments have been sent to countries such as Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines, and data from LSEG suggests the facility is operating near its full annual capacity of 14 million metric tonnes.“They are further ramping up activity to push toward full capacity, as well as trying to make a quick surge in LNG output to get more LNG on the water to Asia and take advantage of higher prices in the region,” Martin King, an RBN Energy analyst, said.An LNG Canada spokesperson declined to comment on the facility’s current production volumes but said the company continues to advance early-stage operations at the site safely and responsibly..Eastern Canada imports LNG from Australia despite record Western gas production.“A 58th cargo is scheduled to depart in the coming days,” the spokesperson said.The Kitimat facility — the first large-scale operation of its kind in Canada — has the capacity to export just under 1.2 million metric tonnes of liquefied natural gas per month, and in the first third of March more than 400,000 tonneshave already been loaded, according to the data.“It looks like they’ve been operating pretty close to capacity over the last couple of weeks,” Mike Belenkie, CEO of Advantage Energy, told Reuters.Qatar — which supplies roughly 20% of globally traded LNG — was forced to halt production and declare force majeure when the Middle East conflict blocked tankers from crossing the Strait of Hormuz, causing global markets to adapt quickly to the situation.Canadian natural gas producers had significantly increased production ahead of LNG Canada’s launch last summer; however, domestic prices fell when the project didn’t draw down supplies as quickly as markets had expected.The facility has also faced operational challenges since it began operations and has steadily increased output since January, according to LSEG data.Daily spot prices at the Alberta Energy Company (AECO) natural gas hub were hovering at roughly US$1.40–$1.50 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), while the US Henry Hub benchmark was averaging $3.15 per MMBtu.
