A view of an LNG storage tank at the venture's export terminal in Kitimat, B.C., in April, 2025.Aaron Whitfield/The Globe and Mail
Five First Nations have agreed to pay up to $1-billion for a majority equity stake in a massive storage tank that would be constructed if LNG Canada forges ahead with expansion plans at its export terminal in British Columbia.
The transaction is contingent on LNG Canada’s co-owners making a final investment decision later this year on plans to expand the terminal in Kitimat, from where liquefied natural gas has been exported to Asia since mid-2025.
Shell PLC-led LNG Canada is this country’s first export terminal for the fuel. The facility is located on a sprawling industrial site on the Haisla Nation’s traditional territory in Kitimat in northwest B.C.
The Haisla and four other First Nations – the Gitxaała, Gitga’at, Kitselas and Kitsumkalum – said in a joint news release with LNG Canada on Tuesday that the equity investment would be made through MNT Investments LP.
MNT is a limited partnership representing the economic development arms of the five participating First Nations.
MNT said in an e-mail to The Globe and Mail on Tuesday that it “anticipates raising capital through a bond issuance. The Nations are exploring the available Indigenous loan guarantee programs but no decisions have been made.”
Representatives from each of the First Nations praised the signing of the transaction, including statements issued by elected leaders of the Haisla and Kitselas.
“This agreement marks a defining point in our collective history – one where Indigenous equity and ownership in energy infrastructure becomes the norm, not the exception,” Haisla chief councillor Maureen Nyce said.
Kitselas chief councillor Glenn Bennett said he is pleased that MNT has lined up an equity stake in the Kitimat terminal’s future storage tank. “We are not just participating in Canada’s energy future,” he said. “We are ensuring that future directly sustains our community for generations to come.”
London-based Shell PLC owns the largest stake in LNG Canada at 40 per cent, followed by Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas (25 per cent), Japan-based Mitsubishi (15 per cent), PetroChina (15 per cent) and South Korea’s Kogas (5 per cent).
Canada sees opportunity to further grow LNG and food exports to Asia
Last September, U.S.-based MidOcean Energy acquired a 20-per-cent interest in key Petronas assets in Canada, including natural gas operations in northeast B.C. and the Petronas stake in LNG Canada.
The transaction announced on Tuesday for the five First Nations would be for a majority ownership interest in the new storage tank and related infrastructure, and not a direct equity stake in LNG Canada.
The new tank, which would become the second massive tank on the site, would be leased back to LNG Canada. The design calls for the tank to be 56 metres high (equivalent to a 12-storey-tall building) and 92 metres in diameter (almost the length of the playing field between the goal lines in Canadian football).
“The transaction would represent one of the largest Indigenous ownership positions in major Canadian infrastructure and a significant Indigenous investment in Canada’s LNG sector,” according to the joint news release.
Under LNG Canada’s Phase 2 expansion proposal, the Kitimat terminal’s export capacity could double to as much as 30 million tonnes a year.
LNG Canada would be responsible for maintenance of the new storage and related infrastructure.
“Our announcement reflects our continued commitment to reconciliation by creating a pathway for Indigenous equity in our proposed Phase 2 expansion,” LNG Canada chief executive officer Chris Cooper said in a statement.
Critics say climate and health effects are being ignored, and the focus needs to be on renewable energy instead of fossil fuels.
Those criticizing LNG include My Sea to Sky, the David Suzuki Foundation and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.
A news release last month by those three groups and other critics of LNG warned about the effects of LNG Canada’s excessive flaring of natural gas at the Kitimat industrial site. Flaring involves the controlled burning of natural gas.
B.C.’s energy regulator monitors air quality as LNG Canada seeks to reduce flaring
Shell and Mitsubishi are considering altering their stakes in LNG Canada to help raise funds for Phase 2 expansion plans.
But a group of Indigenous leaders in B.C, including from the Wet’suwet’en Nation, sent a letter recently to major pension funds to urge them to steer clear of making any investments that would support those expansion plans.
LNG Canada’s Phase 2 proposal is on the list of significant ventures of national interest to be considered for fast-tracking by the federal government’s Major Projects Office.
The Nisga’a Nation-backed Ksi Lisims LNG proposal in northwest B.C. also made Ottawa’s fast-tracking list.
In March, LNG Canada agreed to take the lead role in developing plans for the potential expansion of the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which transports natural gas from northeast B.C. to Kitimat.
Calgary-based TC Energy Corp. operates Coastal GasLink and owns 35 per cent of the pipeline.
The final cost of building the first phase of LNG Canada is expected to be $48.3-billion, including the $18-billion Kitimat terminal, Coastal GasLink and other infrastructure, as well as annual budgets for future drilling in the North Montney region of northeast B.C.