Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park,
British Columbia.
103
November
2016
HYDROCARBON
ENGINEERING
T
he Canadian natural gas marketplace is
experiencing considerable challenges due to the
changing supply and demand environment in
North America. For decades, the US market
purchased the bulk of Canadian natural gas for
consumption, both residential and industrial. With the
evolving development of drilling techniques and hydraulic
fracking, more natural gas has been discovered throughout
North America. It quickly became evident that the US was
going to be able to produce enough natural gas
domestically to meet their own supply demands. While
this was beneficial for the US, it put the Canadian gas
industry in an unfortunate position.
This article will outline the challenges and
opportunities facing the Canadian natural gas industry,
including the current resources available, pipeline and
other transportation methods, gas processing plants and
midstream capabilities, potential customers, and the
current state of the LNG industry in Canada.
There certainly are challenges today but, in spite of
these, Canada is a preferred trading partner with a vast
majority of countries worldwide. The country is a leader
in developing these resources, and has demonstrated a
reasonably stable political environment, which creates
confidence for investment.
Canadian natural gas resources
Canada currently ranks 20
th
in the world for natural gas
reserves and fifth in natural gas production capacity.
Interestingly, the US has moved into first place, ahead of
Russia for natural gas production, and fifth in the world
for natural gas reserves, while Russia is second for natural
gas production. The EU is third, but only produces
marginally more than Canada processes.
