LNG Canada is one important step closer to coming to fruition after the National Energy Board (NEB) approved the export license for the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project on Feb. 4.

"A key milestone in the project for LNG Canada and a step in the right direction for getting abundant North American gas to the growing economies of Asia," said David Williams, Shell Canada spokesperson.

Shell is leading the charge on the project as managing partner of a group that also includes Canadian affiliates of Asian companies Mitsubishi Corporation, Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS) and PetroChina.

LNG Canada has been approved to export almost 33 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas from British Columbia to Pacific Rim markets over 25 years, the maximum annual export volume being just over 1.0 tcf per or 3.23 bcf per day.

The NEB approved the application because it was determined that the export project would not cause an issue for domestic natural gas consumption.

Williams noted that the project is moving along as planned with this latest announcement from the NEB.

"The project was announced in May last year," he said, adding that it was announced in June that TransCanada had been contracted to build the Coastal GasLink pipeline to link Shell's assets in northeast B.C. with the proposed liquefaction and export facility at Kitimat.

The export license application was submitted in July.

"Next we're looking to file a project description," Williams continued. "And that's what really kicks off the regulatory process, the environmental assessments, all those sort of things.

"Then you move towards investment decisions."