Multiple liquefied natural gas projects in British Columbia are positioning themselves as direct competitors to Alaska's proposed LNG export facility, a speaker told a meeting Tuesday.

Canada's first LNG export project, LNG Canada in Kitimat, British Columbia, started producing last year and is now considering doubling its capacity. If the expansion proceeds, the facility would be 40 percent larger than the Alaska LNG project, the speaker said.

"We are not the only West Coast jurisdiction," the speaker said. "Asia certainly is an enticing market for LNG, not just Europe."

Three other active LNG projects are under development in British Columbia. A small facility in Kitimat with a First Nation partner is under construction and expects to begin producing in 2028. The Wood Fiber project north of Vancouver is also under construction with production expected in 2027. The project is being built on the site of a former pulp mill, an already industrialized location.

A fourth British Columbia project has not yet reached final investment decision but would be about 60 percent the size of the Alaska LNG project. The facility would be located just across the border from Alaska in coastal British Columbia and also has a First Nation partner.

"There is plenty of shale gas in British Columbia and Alberta," the speaker said, explaining the resource base for the Canadian projects.

The Canadian facilities are among projects worldwide that will add close to 15 percent to global LNG supply this year and next. Those projects were betting on increasing demand for artificial intelligence, data centers, and electrification before the Iran conflict disrupted global energy markets.

Most of the projects under construction have long-term contracts requiring buyers to take the gas or pay for unused capacity. But the next wave of potential projects is starting to reconsider whether buyers will still be there, the speaker said.

China's LNG imports dropped 11 percent last year to the lowest level since 2018. Japan's LNG imports are lower than they were the year before the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

High prices and supply uncertainty from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz are pushing Asian countries including Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and China back to coal. Some are also reconsidering nuclear power and accelerating renewable energy development.

"The real question for the LNG industry is, had the high prices and the supply uncertainty, you know, this year it is Qatar and Iran and Strait of Hormuz, maybe that gets solved," the speaker said. "Maybe the solution lasts for three years. What happens next time they close?"

A power company in Vietnam that had government approval to build a gas-fired power plant run by imported LNG recently asked permission to scrap that plan and switch to renewables instead. The company told the government that tying its future to LNG was too risky.

The director of the International Energy Agency commented that high energy prices will lead governments, industries, and households to look at other options. The head of the European Union suggested that abandoning nuclear power may have been a mistake.

"Maybe the long-term effect of the Iran war on the Strait of Hormuz is going to be to undercut the LNG export industry," the speaker said, citing a Washington Post story. "No one knows, right? It is just pick a consultant, they will give you a different view. But it is a real concern out there."