Nisga'a Nation President, Eva Clayton, speaks during a Ksi Lisims LNG announcement in Vancouver in September, 2025.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
The Nisga’a Nation-backed Ksi Lisims LNG project has gained the support of three Indigenous groups in British Columbia in a bid to strengthen plans to export liquefied natural gas to Asia.
The Lax Kw’alaams Band, Metlakatla First Nation and Gitxaala Nation in northwestern B.C. signed benefits agreements with Ksi Lisims. But Gitanyow Nation hereditary chiefs and several Gitxsan Nation leaders remain opposed to Ksi Lisims and the associated pipeline route, known as the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission project, or PRGT.
The Nisga’a Nation, Houston-based Western LNG and a group of natural gas producers called Rockies LNG are collaborative partners in the Ksi Lisims project near Gitlaxt’aamiks, which is home to the Nisga’a Lisims government led by elected president Eva Clayton.
Proponents of Ksi Lisims are expected to make a final investment decision later this year on whether to forge ahead with construction.
“Our vision for Ksi Lisims LNG has always been about creating long-term prosperity for all communities across northwest B.C.,” Ms. Clayton said in a news release on Tuesday.
German utility Uniper explores deal with planned Ksi Lisims LNG in B.C.
The Lax Kw’alaams and Metlakatla each applied last September for judicial reviews to quash the decision by federal Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin to give the green light to Ksi Lisims. But both Indigenous groups have withdrawn their applications for judicial reviews, Ksi Lisims said in a statement.
“We look forward to continuing to work with our neighbouring Nations and project partners to support economic participation,” Robert Nelson, Metlakatla’s elected chief councillor, said in a news release.
Construction of the proposed 750-kilometre PRGT project, which is co-owned equally by the Nisga’a Nation and Western, would run from northeastern B.C. to Nisga’a territory, near Pearse Island.
The $12-billion PRGT pipeline is meant to feed the $10-billion Ksi Lisims project, which is anticipated to ship 12 million tonnes a year of the fuel from northwestern B.C. to Asia.
“Continuing to advance these foundational agreements with Indigenous Nations helps to build prosperity for communities in northwest B.C. and continues to be a key priority for Ksi Lisims LNG and PRGT,” Western chief executive officer Davis Thames said in a statement.
The Gitanyow and Gitxsan have traditional territories that the natural gas pipeline would cross.
Ksi Lisims LNG’s backers move closer to decision on B.C. project construction
Last year, the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office said Gitanyow hereditary chiefs and some other Indigenous groups expressed concerns about PRGT.
Shell PLC-led LNG Canada became this country’s first export terminal for natural gas in liquid form when it started shipments to Asia in mid-2025 from Kitimat, B.C.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced last November that Ksi Lisims made the list of significant ventures of national interest to be considered for fast-tracking by the federal government’s Major Projects Office.
LNG Canada’s Phase 2 expansion plan in Kitimat is also on Ottawa’s fast-tracking list.
Last month, German state-owned utility SEFE, or Securing Energy for Europe, said it signed a preliminary deal to buy one million tonnes of LNG annually from Ksi Lisims, with shipments to begin in the early 2030s.
German utility Uniper said this week that it has signed a “letter of interest” with Ksi Lisims that details commercial terms for a pending supply and purchase agreement for two million tonnes a year of LNG.
Critics say climate and health effects are being ignored, and the focus needs to be on renewable energy instead of fossil fuels.
Those criticizing Ksi Lisims and PRGT include Stand.earth, Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition, Environmental Defence, My Sea to Sky, Dogwood, the David Suzuki Foundation and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.
“Though the disruption of the LNG from the Middle East has sent energy markets into upheaval, the projected LNG supply glut is projected to still come into play, lasting several years,” Stand.earth said in a statement on Tuesday.
Stand.earth also said SEFE’s preliminary deal is far from a binding contract.
Lawyers at environmental law charity Ecojustice, representing community leaders in the Kispiox Valley region in northwestern B.C., recently went to the B.C. Supreme Court to challenge the provincial government’s ruling last year that backed PRGT.