Canada's LNG Terminals Become New Battleground for Environmental Activists

Environmental organizations and anti-oil and gas activists in Canada are shifting their focus from pipelines to liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals as a key battleground for their campaigns. According to Terry J. Winnitoy, LNG is the most important potential driver of future natural gas development in Western Canada, with large export terminals creating demand for decades of additional gas production.

This includes more drilling and hydraulic fracturing, new gas-processing facilities, expanded pipeline systems, additional electricity generation and transmission, coastal infrastructure, and increased marine shipping. Activists see stopping an LNG terminal as a way to potentially stop or slow the entire chain of development.

LNG terminals on the British Columbia coast allow Canadian producers to reach Asian and other international markets, particularly important for producers operating in the Montney formation of northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta. Without LNG export capacity, Canadian gas production remains heavily dependent on domestic consumption and the increasingly competitive U.S. market.

Environmental organizations understand this connection and do not view an LNG terminal as an isolated facility but rather one interconnected system with the pipeline supplying it, upstream drilling, and the eventual burning of the exported gas.