NEB Grants Kitimat LNG Project Crucial Export Licence

On October 13, 2011, the National Energy Board granted KM LNG Operating General Partnership an export licence for its proposed Kitimat LNG Project, an LNG export facility on the west coast of British Columbia. This export licence represented the last major regulatory authorization needed for the Kitimat LNG Project to proceed. It also represents the first time since deregulation of Canada's natural gas markets that the National Energy Board has considered an export of LNG from Canada. This decision serves as an important precedent for industry participants that wish to export LNG from Canada in the future. The decision also sends a strong signal that exporting LNG from Canada to Asia is in the Canadian public interest and that the NEB will not impose undue restrictions on Canadians' abilities to access these markets.