Canada signs LNG deal with Germany, the 1st with a European buyer

Canada has signed an energy agreement with Germany’s SEFE which will see Canada supplying them with liquefied natural gas (LNG) off the coast of British Columbia, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson said Wednesday.

Under the agreement, the German company will buy one million tonnes of LNG from Canada via the Ksi Lisims export terminal off the coast of B.C. for 20 years, starting in 2030. This marks the first time Canada has signed a long-term LNG supply deal with a European buyer.

The Ksi Lisims facility, which will end up costing $10 billion, has not yet broken ground.

“Now more than ever, the world is asking for more reliable, low-carbon Canadian energy, and by moving projects forward in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and connecting our resources to that global demand,” Hodgson said.

Ksi Lisims’ backers have been working to finalize contracts with purchasers before making an expected final investment decision this year.

The Ksi Lisims facility is proposed by Houston-based Western LNG, a consortium of Canadian natural gas producers called Rockies LNG, and the Nisga’a First Nation, who own the land for the project. It will have a capacity of 12 million tonnes of LNG per year, making it Canada’s second-largest LNG export facility.

Prime Minister Mark Carney referred it to the Major Projects Office in November 2025. The federal government says it will attract more than $30 billion in investment for Canada.

SEFE, short for Securing Energy for Europe, was nationalized by Germany for 6.3 billion euros in 2022 after former parent Gazprom ditched the business during Europe’s energy crisis.

Some environmental and Indigenous groups have raised concerns over the project.

“Canadians deserve honest conversations about the legal, financial, climate, and public health risks associated with locking the country into another generation of large-scale fossil fuel infrastructure,” said Gwii Lok’im Gibuu (Jesse Stoeppler), co-executive director of the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition, in a statement.

Environmental groups urged Ottawa to halt the project.

“A rapid transition to clean, renewable energy is the only path that delivers both a livable climate and a resilient economy for Canadians and for the world. We are calling on governments to halt this project, uphold Indigenous rights and ongoing legal proceedings, and invest in the clean energy future we actually need,” said David Quigg, organizer at the Sierra Club BC.