Nisga'a Nation President Eva Clayton shakes hands with B.C. Premier David Eby during a Ksi Lisims LNG announcement in Vancouver last year. The Nisga’a Nation is a collaborative partner in the project.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
The Nisga’a Nation-backed Ksi Lisims LNG project in British Columbia has garnered support from the Gitga’at First Nation, two sources say, as the Nisga’a and other proponents get closer to making a decision on forging ahead with construction.
Ksi Lisims, which received regulatory approval last year, plans to export liquefied natural gas to Asia from northwest B.C. The province’s Environmental Assessment Office listed six participating First Nations during the regulator’s review of the yet-to-be-built project.
The Gitga’at becomes the fifth First Nation to sign a benefits agreement with Ksi Lisims, in what is an important step toward bringing the project to fruition, the sources said. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the sources because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. The Gitga’at and Ksi Lisims declined comment.
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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.
Last month, three other First Nations announced their backing for Ksi Lisims. The Lax Kw’alaams Band, Metlakatla First Nation and Gitxaala Nation in northwest B.C. signed benefits agreements with Ksi Lisims.
The Kitselas First Nation announced its support for Ksi Lisims last year.
“We have always envisioned the Ksi Lisims LNG project as economically important for the entirety of northwest B.C., and we are pleased to see this vision materializing,” Eva Clayton, elected president of the Nisga’a Lisims government, said in a statement in June.
A sixth Indigenous group, the Kitsumkalum First Nation, remains in negotiations with Ksi Lisims.
Rockies LNG chair Jeff Tonken, who is also chair of Birchcliff Energy Ltd., said Ksi Lisims expects to make a final investment decision by early 2027 on whether to forge ahead.
Members of Calgary-based Rockies include Birchcliff, Advantage Energy Ltd., Paramount Resources Ltd., Ovintiv Inc. and Vermilion Energy Inc.
Tourmaline Oil Corp., Peyto Exploration & Development Corp., Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Whitecap Resources Inc. have exited Rockies, Mr. Tonken said in an interview with The Globe and Mail on Wednesday.
“I don’t view this as a serious issue,” he said. “This is some companies coming in, some companies coming out.”
Bloomberg News first reported the departures of the four producers from Rockies.
Amid turmoil in the Middle East, Canada is increasingly seen as a reliable place to ship LNG to Asia, Mr. Tonken said.
“Our project is being taken much more seriously. We’re in a much better place than we were eight months ago,” he said.
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The U.S. and Israel began assaults on Iran in late February, resulting in the virtual shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz for long stretches of time. About 20 per cent of the world’s LNG normally passes through the strait and most of it is en route to Asian markets.
LNG Canada, this country’s first export terminal for the fuel, began shipping in mid-2025 to Asia from Kitimat, B.C.
Last year, the federal government referred LNG Canada’s Phase 2 expansion plan to the Major Projects Office, which is seeking to identify ventures of national interest to be considered for fast-tracking. Ottawa also referred the Ksi Lisims proposal to the MPO for potential fast-tracking.
Ksi Lisims would receive its natural gas from the proposed Prince Rupert Gas Transmission project, which is co-owned equally by the Nisga’a Nation and Western LNG. The PRGT pipeline would stretch across 750 kilometres from northeast B.C. to the West Coast.
Local community leaders are challenging the B.C. government’s ruling last year that backs PRGT. Lawyers for environmental law charity Ecojustice appeared in B.C. Supreme Court earlier this year to claim that the province gave the pipeline the go-ahead unfairly and before enough initial work was done.