BY KUNLE KALEJAIYE with Agency Report

Canada has given the final approval for Shell’s planned LNG-export plant in British Columbia.  Canadian Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver granted the OK on Monday, Reuters reported. The move was expected.

The license was given to LNG Canada Development, a Shell-led consortium that includes Mitsubishi, PetroChina and Korea Gas.

With the approval Shell and its partners can export of up to 670 million tonnes of LNG over the 25-year period covered by the license, or 3.23 billion cubic feet of gas per day, the news wire said.

While a number of LNG plants have been proposed for the northern British Columbia coastline, the license is only the third handed out by Canada so far.

Kitimat LNG, co-owned by Apache and Chevron was granted a license in 2011, while privately owned BC LNG Export Cooperative received one early last year.

LNG Canada is in the early stages of planning an LNG plant in British Columbia, to take gas from the province’s massive shale fields to lucrative Asian markets. The facility is expected to be complete by 2020.