LNG Canada equity option agreement reached with five First Nations

Wudang, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker, fills up at an LNG Canada facility, in an aerial view, in Kitimat, B.C., on Thursday, November 13, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

KITIMAT — LNG Canada has reached an agreement with five neighbouring First Nations in northern B.C. that would provide them an option to invest up to $1-billion in the project’s proposed second phase.

The equity option agreement is with MNT Investments LP, which includes development organizations from the Gitga’at, Gitxaała, Haisla, Kitselas and Kitsumkalum.

MNT would be able to buy a majority stake in a special-purpose entity that would, in turn, buy a storage tank to be built as part of LNG Canada’s second phase.

The tank would then be leased back to LNG Canada for as long as the project in Kitimat, B.C., operates.

LNG Canada, led by Shell Canada alongside four Asian companies, aims to make a final investment decision by year-end on an expansion project that would double the current plant’s planned output.

The equity option agreement with the First Nations is conditional on the partners approving Phase 2, which has been referred to the federal major projects office.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 14, 2026.