A storage tank at LNG Canada's Kitimat, B.C., liquefied natural gas export terminal. Chris Cooper will take over in April as CEO of the Shell PLC-led project, which is currently under construction and aiming to start exporting fuel by mid-2025.Jennifer Gauthier/Reuters
A senior vice-president at LNG Canada will take over as chief executive officer of the project that will become the country’s first terminal for exporting liquefied natural gas.
Chris Cooper will replace Jason Klein as CEO of the Shell PLC-led project, which is being built in Kitimat, B.C., for shipping the fuel to Asia.
The appointment of Mr. Cooper, who is currently LNG Canada’s senior vice-president for Phase 1 pipeline and expansion, was announced Monday and will take effect on April 1. He joined the joint venture in 2021.
“I’m pleased to continue the journey with all those involved in and around the LNG Canada investment,” Mr. Cooper said in a statement.
LNG Canada began building its $18-billion terminal in 2018 and is aiming to start exporting the fuel on ocean-bound vessels by mid-2025.
The terminal is being constructed on a Kitimat industrial site on the traditional territory of the Haisla Nation.
Mr. Cooper will become the fourth LNG Canada CEO to be appointed with experience at Shell.
Andy Calitz served as the project’s CEO for the first five years, including a period when LNG Canada applied for and obtained approvals from environmental regulators.
Peter Zebedee took over as CEO for nearly three years and Mr. Klein has been in the top job since April, 2022. “It’s an experience I’ll always cherish,” Mr. Klein, who will be returning to Shell in Houston, said in a statement.
London-based Shell is the largest partner in LNG Canada, with a 40-per-cent stake. The other partners are Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas (25 per cent), PetroChina (15 per cent), Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. (15 per cent) and South Korea’s Kogas (5 per cent).
LNG Canada’s co-owners are considering whether to press ahead with Phase 2 expansion plans that would double export capacity of natural gas in liquid form.
The total cost of building the entire project has been pegged at $48.3-billion, including the $18-billion Kitimat terminal, the $14.5-billion Coastal GasLink pipeline and other infrastructure, as well as annual budgets for drilling in the North Montney region of northeastern B.C.
Other LNG projects that remain active in British Columbia include Woodfibre LNG, Cedar LNG, Ksi Lisims LNG and Tilbury LNG.
Industry analysts say Canada remains far behind the United States in developing LNG export terminals. The first LNG export facility in the lower 48 states began operating in 2016 and another seven U.S. sites have opened since then.
Venture Global LNG Inc.’s Plaquemines LNG, located south of New Orleans, started production last week to become the eighth LNG export terminal in operation in the U.S.
Climate activists say the world needs to focus on renewable energy, not on fossil fuels such as LNG.
“LNG has gained increased attention since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022,” Reclaim Finance, an environmental group that advocates for decarbonization of the financial industry, said in a recent report. “LNG export and import terminals have multiplied.”