Why Natural Gas? Why LNG? Markets worldwide need more energy. Natural gas is a safe, efficient and environmentally friendly energy source and major part of the global energy mix. While natural gas reserves are abundant, much of this gas has been considered “stranded” because it is located in regions distant from consuming markets. Today, more than ever, our energy-hungry world simply cannot afford to let this valuable energy remain unused.

Canaport LNG, the first LNG terminal in Canada and the first of its kind constructed on the East Coast of North America in decades, is expected to supply approximately 20 percent of current natural gas demand in New England.

Because natural gas in its liquid form has a reduced volume, the process of liquefaction allows for an easy way to transport the once-stranded fuel to distant destinations. Today, LNG is exported from Trinidad and Tobago, Australia, Algeria, Nigeria, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Qatar, as well as the United States, to supply the growing energy needs and demand of markets worldwide.

By 2015, The Atlantic Basin will account for half of the global LNG trade, according to forecasts by industry consultant Poten & Partners. The most significant contributor to this growth in demand is the United States and Canada, which will make up 50 percent of the Atlantic Basin LNG demand by 2015.

In the U.S., demand for natural gas is expected to increase by 1.5 percent a year between 2003 and 2025, reaching 30.7 trillion cubic feet per year in 2025. In parts of northeastern U.S., demand is expected to increase even faster -- by 1.9 percent a year in New York, for example. During the same period, natural gas production in the U.S. is only expected to grow at 0.6 percent a year, less than half the pace of growth in demand. These supply-demand dynamics would result in a significant supply shortfall.

To bridge the widening supply-demand gap, the U.S. is expected to increase LNG imports to 8.9 trillion cubic feet by 2025. As a result, the percentage of U.S. natural gas supply provided by LNG is projected to increase from approximately 2 percent in 2003 to more than 20 percent in 2025, according to the U.S. Energy Department.

Canaport LNG is at the forefront of Canada's historically export-driven natural gas industry.

Once operational, Canaport LNG will be the first LNG importing terminal in Canada, serving domestic Canadian markets as well as other North American regions.