FortisBC to ship more Canadian LNG to China

China Energy Reserve and Chemicals Group has tied up with Canada’s FortisBC to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China. 

FortisBC said in a statement on Thursday that 20 LNG containers were being loaded for CERCG at the Tilbury facility set for delivery to China where the demand for LNG is growing.

More LNG shipments are being planned throughout 2018 to help CERCG meet the energy needs of its customers, the statement reads.

“China’s supply of LNG is currently quite limited, so we are seeking new sources of LNG to meet future demand,” said Henry Liu, Canada representative for CERCG.

Beijing-based CERCG will bring the shipment to Shanghai where the government is restricting the use of coal and wood, and even vehicles, to curb rising pollution.

Last November, FortisBC launched a pilot shipment of the first container of LNG from Canada to China. Since then, FortisBC has been working with Chinese customers on the logistics of shipping small amounts of LNG by container ship. The company delivered two CERCG shipments of two containers each to Shanghai earlier this year.

FortisBC is fuelling these shipments from its Tilbury and Mount Hayes LNG storage facilities, the only such facilities on Canada’s West Coast.

Construction of an expansion of the Tilbury storage and liquefaction capacity is “substantially complete” and based on the current commissioning schedule, it will be fully operational later this year, the company said.