Manitoba Premier Unveils $70B Plan for Offshore LNG Terminal at Churchill

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew announced plans to expand the Port of Churchill, including an offshore liquefied natural gas terminal in Hudson Bay. The project is estimated to cost $70 billion to $80 billion.

The expansion would allow for year-round shipping, currently limited to a four-month ice-free season from mid-July to late October or early November. Researchers suggest that freighters hardened against ice can safely navigate Hudson Bay outside of the existing shipping season, but warn that fully laden natural gas tankers cannot maneuver within the shallow and narrow entrance to the existing port.

Studies conducted by Arctic Gateway Group, which owns the port and railway, estimate that purchasing an ice-hardened vessel would cost between $280 million to $410 million. A third study concluded that there will still be ice on Hudson Bay even if global temperatures rise five degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.