WGC2025: LNG Canada to ship first cargo in 'matter of weeks' to Asia, says Petronas CEO

LNG Canada is expected to ship its first cargo in a matter of weeks to Asia, Petronas CEO Tengku Muhammad Taufik said May 20 during the World Gas Conference in Beijing.

"In Canada, we hope to see the first cargo coming soon, very, very soon. I am talking about a matter of weeks now, coming to this part of the globe," Taufik said during a session.

Thousands of delegates are gathering in Beijing for the 29th World Gas Conference 2025 (WGC2025) over May 19-23, amid shifting dynamics in LNG trade and investment.

LNG Canada, in which Petronas holds a 25% stake, has said it plans to deliver its first cargo by mid-2025.

The Shell-led LNG Canada project, with a capacity of 14 million mt/year in remote Kitimat, British Columbia, will position Canada as a global LNG supplier and open the country's vast gas reserves to the international market.

Speaking during his opening speech at WGC2025, TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said that Asia is expected to be a key driver of incremental global gas demand over the next 10 years.

Demand growth

In the same session with the Petronas CEO, Woodside Energy CEO Meg O'Neill said, "Gas demand could grow by 50% between now and 2030; [it is] a tremendous increase in gas demand."

"That means, as suppliers, we need to do our best to make sure that we are investing in cost-competitive projects so that our LNG is attractive," O'Neill said, explaining an April 29 final investment decision to develop a three-train, 16.5-million-mt/year Louisiana LNG project, targeting first LNG in 2029.

"That is a recognition that the LNG market is continuing to grow globally and that LNG is not just a solution for Asian energy consumers who might be challenged with shortages of domestic resources," she said.

"But increasingly, customers in South America and Europe are looking for LNG to help meet their energy needs," O'Neill said, adding that these were some of the factors that supported the recent FID.

With Woodside having signed four long-term LNG offtake deals with customers in Asia and another long-term deal with a European customer in the last 18 months, O'Neill said, "Their actions are saying we want to lock in LNG supply into the 2040s."