As the war in West Asia impacts India sourcing of fossil fuels including petroleum and liquefied natural gas (LNG), Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has underscored how his country is “well-positioned” to meet those needs in the future.
In a post on X on Tuesday, Carney said, “India’s energy demand is increasing faster than anywhere else in the world. As an energy superpower, Canada is well-positioned to seize this opportunity.”
He also embedded a video of him addressing the matter during the joint press appearance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi last week following their bilateral meeting. In the clip he shared, Carney said, “Canada is well-positioned to contribute as a reliable supplier of the world’s lowest carbon responsibly produced LNG from its west coast.”
The solutions that Carney is offering are for the future because Canada has not yet built out the capacity to export oil and gas at a level that will matter to consumers like India. In fact, Canada’s first cargo of LNG to arrive in Asia occurred just last year, when it arrived in South Korea in June.
In the case of shipment of LNG, the fuel is sent through the Coastal GasLink pipeline to the port of Kitimat in British Columbia, the LNG Canada export facility, with a present capacity of 14 MTPA. The West Coast has halved shipment times via tanker to Asia to ten days. Multiple LNG projects, pipelines and ports are currently under various stages of implementation.
But the ambition that Canada will emerge among India’s largest sources of oil and gas was also reflected in the joint statement issued after the bilateral between the PMs earlier this month. It said, “The leaders noted that Canada is poised to become a major global supplier of LNG and welcomed India’s intention to source LNG from Canada. They further welcomed the emergence, over the past five years, of Canada as an important supplier of heavy oil.”
Both sides “acknowledged the significant potential to further expand bilateral energy trade. This includes increased oil and LNG imports by India from Canada, as well as the supply of refined petroleum products from India to Canada.”
They also noted “ongoing engagement aimed at concluding India’s first long-term LPG supply arrangement with Canada.”
Canada hopes to increase LNG exports to million tonnes per annum by 2030, and further double it over the longer run.
Canada’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson completed a visit to India in January, during which he attended India Energy Week in Goa and held bilaterals with as many as five Cabinet Ministers.
During the course of a press conference after his return, Hodgson said strategic engagement with India was “not optional” but “essential”, adding, “The path to being an energy superpower runs through India in many ways for Canada.”
India’s Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Puri is expected to visit Canada later this year to take ahead plans in this sector.