CALGARY — Canada is expected to sign a deal with Germany’s Securing Energy for Europe (SEFE) for liquified natural gas (LNG) from the planned Ksi Lisims export facility on BC’s coast. Bloomberg has reported the agreement is to be announced Wednesday in Vancouver by Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson.The announcement comes as the Ksi Lisims’ backers have been working to finalize contracts with the purchasers before making an expected final investment decision later this year. The LNG facility was proposed by Houston-based Western LN — a consortium of Canadian natural gas producers called Rockies LNG and Nisga’a First Nation who own the land for the project. Ksi Lisims is expected to have a capacity of 12 million tonnes of LNG per year, making it the second-largest LNG export facility in Canada. TotalEnergies and natural gas giant Shell have already signed 20-year LNG purchase agreements with Ksi Lisims. SEFE was taken over by the German government in 2022 for roughly 6.3 billion euros after Russian energy giant Gazprom abandoned the company during Europe’s energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.The company has been tasked with helping to diversify Germany’s energy supply as Europe seeks alternatives to Russian oil and gas due to growing geopolitical instability. SEFE has already signed LNG agreements with several international suppliers, including US-based Venture Global, Argentina’s Southern Energy and Turkey’s state-owned energy company BOTAS.Reuters reported last month that European buyers, including Germany’s Uniper, are also exploring the possibility of importing LNG from Canada’s Pacific Coast through the Panama Canal as part of a broader strategy to diversify supply sources amid heightened tensions in the Middle East due to the Iran conflict and uncertainty involving the Strait of Hormuz.
