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Markus Krebber, the head of Germany energy giant RWE, warned that the effects of Germany’s current energy crisis could permanently damage the ability of German industry to grow at full scale.
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Think about that. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz came to Canada six months after Russia cut off half of Germany’s gas supply looking for LNG (liquified natural gas) supplies from us. We could have helped an ally save their economy, yet our “green” fanatic prime minister refused.
Justin Trudeau’s infamous excuse was that there is “no business case” for exporting LNG (which is just natural gas supercooled to liquid form to make it easier to ship). Of course, the real reason Trudeau said no is that his government is made up of environmental extremists who are committed to leaving fossil fuels in the ground, even clean fossil fuels such as natural gas.
Trudeau’s decision wasn’t economic, it was political and ideological.
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Last year, global exports of all forms of natural gas exceeded 1.3 trillion cubic metres. Of that, just over 40% was in liquified form.
Since 2014, the Americans have completed 27 LNG export facilities. And in 2023, they became far and away the biggest liquified natural gas exporters in the world at just short of 12 billion cubic feet a day. Australia is second, tied with Qatar, at around 10bcf.
It’s true that at the urging of the U.S. Democrats’ left wing, President Joe Biden has paused the issuance of any further LNG export permits for the time being. However, existing export contract may continue.
If there was no business case for Canadian LNG before the Biden pause, there is now. Whether or not the Americans want to expand their already vast exports, the world is eager for more LNG. Only in Canada, and in a few meeting halls of the Marxist eco-cult, is natural gas seen as a dirty fuel.
And if you need any more proof that Canadian LNG exports make economic sense, consider that while the Russians and Americans have larger proven natural gas reserves than we do, we still have among the largest reserves in the world.
Certainly Canada has enough to supply Germany with gas for decades at world prices.
But just exactly how many LNG export facilities does Canada have? (Remember, the U.S. has 27.)
Zero.
We have a couple potential sites on the East Coast that could be up and running in a couple of years, but with the Trudeau government in office with its clear hostility to oil and gas, it has been hard to find investors.
In 2020, American investor Warren Buffett withdrew an $12 billion investment in an LNG project in Quebec. Quebec voters didn’t want an LNG plant, and since the federal Liberals are always loath to upset Quebecers, they made their reluctance known to Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway firm, who then moved their investment Stateside.
Canada will open its first LNG export facility next year, provided the Trudeau govt doesn’t delay it further by giving into the objections of First Nations hereditary chiefs (as opposed to elected chiefs, who support it) or finding some other excuse.
Japan also asked us for LNG because it wanted to free itself from China’s economic pressure. And recently Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis came to Canada to seek LNG commitments from the Trudeau government, only to be rebuffed like everyone else.
Mitsotakis also pointed out that Greece would be willing to act as an entry point for Canadian gas shipments destined for Ukraine, but that didn’t sway the Trudeau eco-extremists, either.
And here’s the ultimate irony. If Canada exported LNG to countries that currently use coal or oil to generate electricity, we could reduce worldwide emissions by enough to meet our own Paris accord obligations.
Yet that’s not pure enough for the Trudeau Liberals.
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