(Reuters) – Canada could pursue an energy partnership with France involving liquefied natural gas from its Pacific coast, Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand said on Monday, a day after leaders of the two countries met and discussed energy cooperation.
Anand said it was “quite conceivable” for Canada to execute an energy partnership with a European country using LNG exported from Canada’s west coast.“That goes for France,” she said in an interview on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations.
French President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly called in recent days for deeper energy cooperation with Canada as Europe seeks to diversify supplies amid disruptions linked to the conflict in the Middle East and rising energy prices.
Canada, the world’s fifth-largest natural gas producer, shipped its first-ever liquefied natural gas export cargo in June from the recently constructed LNG Canada facility in British Columbia, which is led by Shell and is the first North American LNG export site with direct access to the Pacific Ocean.
Anand said discussions on energy partnerships were taking place with countries around the world across a range of sectors including LNG, clean energy, wind, solar and nuclear power.
“Every country I speak with asks about potential partnerships in energy,” she said.
