TC Energy Corp. has secured second place, behind Enbridge Inc., in a pipeline race to gain prized high-volume traffic bound for liquefied natural gas exports (LNG) from the northern Pacific coast of British Columbia (BC).

“Time is of the essence,” said TC subsidiary Nova Gas Transmission Ltd. (NGTL) in a request for swift approval by the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) of a delivery bargain with LNG Canada partner Petronas Canada Ltd.

NGTL seeks approval by Dec. 31 to a “competitive alternative” devised after Enbridge’s BC Westcoast network won a Petronas contract to transport 510 MMcf/d for the first of two LNG Canada terminal phases.

Phase one is under construction at Kitimat, along with the terminal’s Coastal GasLink (CGL) supply conduit across 670 kilometers...