LNG Canada to Double Export Capacity as Shell Approves Phase 2

Natural gas proxy prices fell on Sept. 28, 2026: the United States Natural Gas Fund dropped 3.05% to 10.79 USD. LNG Canada’s plan to double capacity points to a longer term supply story, but the fund tracks US natural gas, not Canadian LNG prices.

How LNG Canada plans to double capacity

LNG Canada has made a final investment decision to proceed with Phase 2 at its Kitimat, British Columbia, facility. The expansion adds two processing trains and is designed to lift annual production capacity from 14 million tonnes to 28 million tonnes. Commercial operations are expected to start in the early 2030s.

Who supplies and lifts the additional LNG

Shell, Petronas, PetroChina, Mitsubishi and Korea Gas Corporation are the project’s shareholders. Shell owns 40% and expects to receive nearly 6 million tonnes a year of additional LNG from the expansion.

The partners will keep an equity lifting structure. Each participant is responsible for taking its share of the LNG and arranging the corresponding portion of gas supply. That model links each company’s export volume to its own supply obligations.

Asian demand is the expansion’s commercial case

The Kitimat project is intended to deliver cost competitive gas to Asian buyers. Shell’s LNG Outlook 2026 projects global LNG demand will rise around 65% by 2050, citing higher energy needs and demand for secure, flexible supplies. That is a long range forecast, not a measure of current purchases.

Shell describes LNG Canada as part of its integrated gas business and says the facility can help supply Asian customers seeking varied energy sources. The expansion’s additional output is scheduled years ahead, so the forecast offers context for the investment rather than a near term demand reading.

What the gas fund price can and cannot show

The United States Natural Gas Fund traded at 10.79 USD, down 3.05% for the day. Its 52 week range was 9.54 to 11.67, and its RSI was 54.1. These figures offer a market proxy, not a direct quote for LNG Canada, its future output or Asian LNG prices.

The supplied market data include no inventory figures, dollar move or new geopolitical supply disruption, so none can be cited as the cause of the fund’s daily decline. Production capacity and the demand forecast help explain the project’s rationale, but do not establish what drove that one day price change.

Can the project broaden Canada’s export mix?

Prime Minister Mark Carney included Phase 2 among five projects of national importance proposed in autumn 2025. The stated aim was to diversify Canadian energy exports beyond the United States. Whether the expanded terminal changes that export balance will depend on its eventual production and where project partners send their LNG.