Middle East Buyers Seek Woodfibre LNG Volumes Pacific Energy Has Already Sold to BP
Pacific Energy president Ratnesh Bedi says his company is fielding Middle Eastern inquiries for Woodfibre output that is fully contracted to BP.
Middle Eastern buyers are approaching Pacific Energy for liquefied natural gas from Canada's Woodfibre project, even though the facility's entire 2.1 million tonnes per year of capacity has already been contracted to BP, Pacific Energy president Ratnesh Bedi said in an interview published on Saturday (2026-08-08).7
Interest in a fully contracted, under-construction project shows how sharply buyer priorities have moved. Buyers across the Middle East described by Bedi are seeking Canadian supply as a hedge against geopolitical turmoil — a posture that became widespread after the United States and Israel began assaults on Iran in late February 2026, according to The Globe and Mail, disrupting assumptions about Gulf supply reliability.7,5
Woodfibre is being built near Squamish, British Columbia. Pacific Energy, a Singapore-based firm, holds a 70% stake. The 2.1 million tonne annual capacity is modest by global LNG standards, but Woodfibre is one of the few Canadian LNG facilities actually under construction rather than awaiting financing, regulatory decisions, or a final investment commitment.7
With capacity already committed to BP, any Middle Eastern volumes would require secondary market arrangements or BP to on-sell cargoes. Bedi did not elaborate on possible mechanisms in the published interview. The gap between expressed buyer interest and available supply illustrates a pattern forming across Canada's LNG development pipeline: contracted volumes at projects years from first export are being sought by buyers who want near-term geopolitical cover, and the supply is not there yet to match the demand signal.7
Asian LNG spot prices via the JKM benchmark were last quoted at $21.11 per MMBtu on August 9, 2026, keeping Pacific-routed supply economically attractive for buyers in Asia and the Gulf. ICE Endex TTF front-month gas was last quoted at €55.50 per MWh on August 9, 2026, a spread that keeps Atlantic-basin supply competitive for European buyers pursuing similar diversification strategies.7
Canada has accelerated LNG contracting at larger undeveloped projects during the same period. Ksi Lisims LNG, a planned 12 million tonne per year facility on British Columbia's northern coast (which would become the country's second-largest LNG export project), signed a preliminary heads-of-agreement with Germany's state-owned SEFE for 1 million metric tonnes per year for up to 20 years, announced in late May 2026. SEFE was nationalized by Germany for 6.3 billion euros in 2022 after Gazprom abandoned the business during the European energy crisis.4,1
Ksi Lisims subsequently secured a binding 20-year offtake agreement with German energy company Uniper, with combined contracted volumes across both deals representing roughly one-third of the project's planned 12 million tonne annual capacity. A final investment decision on the project is targeted for late 2026.6,2,3
A Canadian energy industry report published in June 2026 positioned Asia as central to Canada's effort to reduce trade dependence on the United States, with British Columbia LNG as the primary mechanism. Under a potential Phase 2 expansion, the Kitimat LNG terminal's export capacity could reach 30 million tonnes per year.5
For now, the Middle Eastern buyers talking to Bedi have no clear path to Woodfibre volumes. BP controls the offtake. Pacific Energy can take the calls, but not the contracts. The Ksi Lisims FID, expected by year-end, is the next point where declared buyer appetite confronts the reality of committed supply.3,7