Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) has green-lighted export of Canadian gas to the United States for liquefaction and further export to global markets via the planned Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal on Coos Bay in Oregon.

NEB granted a 25-year export license to Jordan Cove LNG LP, a unit of Calgary-based Veresen Inc. The proposed export points include existing natural gas pipelines that cross the Canadian-U.S. border near Kingsgate and Huntingdon, BC. Issuance of the license is subject to the approval of the Governor in Council.

Veresen filed for the license last September (see Daily GPI, Sept. 12, 2013). A similar terminal and export project in Oregon has been seeking a partner and tolling customers (seeDaily GPI, Jan. 17).

“This favorable National Energy Board decision is another important step forward in the development of our Jordan Cove LNG project,” said Veresen CEO Don Althoff on Thursday. “Our proposed LNG facility would provide Western Canadian producers with access to large, new markets, primarily using existing natural gas infrastructure, and our project is well-positioned to generate long-term benefits for the energy industry.”

The license allows export of up to 1.55 Bcf/d to the United States. The initial liquefaction design capacity of the terminal is 6 million tonnes per year, and this could later be expanded by 50%, Veresen said. The expanded export capacity could be accommodated by the 1.55 Bcf/d NEB export authorization.

Canadian gas would reach the Jordan Cove terminal via existing pipeline and gathering networks to the Malin, OR, trading hub in southern Oregon and then be transported through the Pacific Connector, a 232-mile, 36-inch proposed pipeline owned equally by Veresen and Williams (see Daily GPI, June 7).

NEB said it determined that the quantity of gas to be exported is surplus to Canadian requirements and is “satisfied that the gas resource base in Canada, as well as North America, is large and can accommodate reasonably foreseeable Canadian demand…”