Sponsors of liquefied natural gas (LNG) development in British Columbia staked a claim Monday to national significance by rebranding their six-year-old trade association.

Canada

The BC LNG Alliance announced it has re-launched itself under a new name as the Canadian LNG Alliance (Canadian LNGA), effective immediately.

The switch was made “to reflect the critical role liquefied natural gas has to play in Canada’s COVID-19 economic recovery, economic reconciliation with indigenous communities and Canada’s clean energy transition,” said the group.

Canadian LNGA cited the only project in the country that has made it past the planning stage so far as an example of benefits generated by the emerging overseas natural gas export industry.

“The C$40 billion ($30 billion) in-construction LNG Canada project is the largest private infrastructure investment in Canadian history and is providing jobs, trades training, business and procurement opportunities for Canadians at a time when getting back to work, safely, is a top priority.”

In addition to supplying a clean substitute for coal overseas, the project’s terminal on the northern Pacific coast at Kitimat will stand out as a model of low carbon emissions for LNG production by using northern BC hydroelectric power, said the association.

Other projects besides LNG Canada continue to work through prolonged planning and regulatory processes elsewhere in BC, Quebec and Nova Scotia.

The renamed, now national trade association’s members continue to be LNG Canada, Kitimat LNG (Chevron Canada), Woodside Energy, Woodfibre LNG, ExxonMobil, FortisBC, AltaGas and Enbridge.