The data was published by the Earth Observation Group at the Colorado School of Mines<\/a>, a research team that specializes in producing nighttime satellite imagery to track gas flaring.<\/p>\n According to the group\u2019s estimates, Nigeria\u2019s Bonny Island LNG terminal was the highest-flaring facility of 2024. It burned an estimated 234.4 million cubic metres of gas, closely followed by the Arzew-Bethioua terminal in Algeria, which burned 233 million cubic metres.<\/p>\n Global flaring data from LNG facilities operating in 2025 have not yet been published, but the Canadian facility will be among the world\u2019s top sources of flaring at LNG terminals, according to Mikhail Zhizhin, a researcher at the Payne Institute for Public Policy in Colorado. Zhizhin was instrumental in the development of technology to monitor gas flaring from space.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the flaring data that has been supplied by LNG Canada to the regulator is accurate, it puts the facility amongst the highest flaring LNG facilities in the world,\u201d Zhizhin said in an interview.<\/p>\n In an emailed statement<\/a>, LNG Canada attributed the flaring to the facility being at an early phase and said it will be infrequent during normal operations.<\/p>\n The high volume of flaring from the $40-billion Canada-based facility raises new questions about ongoing problems with some of the terminal\u2019s key mechanical components<\/a> \u2014 and concerns about what it could mean for the local community, Kitimat, B.C.<\/a><\/p>\n According to government data, LNG Canada flared a minimum of 127,900 cubic metres of gas every day in 2025, with the daily average being much higher: almost one million cubic metres. The worst month for flaring was June 2025, when the facility burned almost 110 million cubic metres. The data show 3,648 million cubic metres of gas were sent to LNG Canada last year, meaning almost 10% of all gas transported to the terminal was burned off without being used for power or exported.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is definitely high,\u201d Christopher Doleman, an LNG and gas specialist at the U.S.-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, said. \u201cProponents may argue that it is regular during commissioning, but the several instances of unplanned flaring by the company suggest that this is out of the ordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of those unplanned flaring events included flames reaching heights of 90 metres<\/a>, roughly the size of London\u2019s Big Ben, along with plumes of black smoke settling over the community.<\/p>\n Marty Clemens \/\/ The Narwhal<\/p>\n The export plant sent its first shipment of LNG overseas on June 30, 2025.<\/p>\n Flaring at LNG Canada has consistently exceeded allowable amounts permitted by the provincial government. According to the regulator, LNG Canada \u2014 owned by Royal Dutch Shell, Petronas, Korea Gas, PetroChina and Mitsubishi \u2014 has been flaring at levels that are \u201cnot consistent\u201d with government permits, meaning the facility has been breaking provincial regulations for several months.<\/p>\n In January, The Narwhal revealed an \u201cintegrity issue\u201d with the facility\u2019s flaring equipment, which resulted in LNG Canada burning significantly more gas than expected \u2014 and it could take three to five years to fix. The issue was identified shortly after the LNG plant started testing its equipment in late 2024, but the government regulator did not learn about the problem until April 2025.<\/p>\n Company officials have since met with local politicians but have failed to provide the public with details of why the issue might take so long to fix<\/a>.<\/p>\n LNG Canada declined to answer this question, though the spokesperson said \u201cwe continue to tune the equipment to real-world conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn normal operations at LNG Canada, flaring will be related to infrequent activities such as maintenance, planned turnarounds and facility upsets,\u201d the spokesperson wrote.<\/p>\n \u2018Completely untrue\u2019: experts question environmental claims about Canadian LNG<\/p>\n Analysts believe the high flaring levels at LNG Canada raise serious questions about environmental claims that have been made about the facility.<\/p>\n Last summer, the premier of British Columbia, David Eby, said<\/a> gas processed at the Kitimat terminal is the \u201clowest-carbon LNG in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Discussing why energy-importing countries would benefit from purchasing fuel processed at the facility, he said: \u201cThey should be using Canadian LNG that\u2019s produced ethically, that promotes environmental protection, as well as high-quality labour standards and safety standards.\u201d<\/p>\n Shell CEO Wael Sawan similarly said<\/a> last year that LNG Canada would be \u201cone of the lowest carbon projects anywhere in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking in India in March, Prime Minister Mark Carney said<\/a>: \u201cCanada is well-positioned to contribute as a reliable supplier of the world\u2019s lowest-carbon, responsibly-produced LNG from our West Coast.\u201d<\/p>\n Eby declined an interview request and did not respond to questions about the current state of the facility. Shell did not respond to questions. Carney also declined an interview request and referred questions to the federal Energy Ministry, which did not respond by publication time.<\/p>\n Doleman said the new information calls these environmental claims into question.<\/p>\n \u201cThis flaring data undermines the claims that are being made about the facility producing low-carbon LNG,\u201d he said in an interview. \u201cStatements that have been made by officials saying that the LNG is the cleanest in the world now seem to be completely untrue.\u201d<\/p>\n LNG Canada said high levels of flaring are normal during the start-up phase of a project of this type. The spokesperson said air quality data recorded in Kitimat show levels of nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide remained \u201cconsistently low\u201d in 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cLNG Canada continues to prioritize the safety of its people, the community and its assets, to support safe and responsible operations,\u201d the spokesperson wrote.<\/p>\n There is significant uncertainty about the true volumes of global gas flaring due to the difficulty of measuring emissions via satellite. Recent research by the Colorado School of Mines has suggested the true levels of flaring from the world\u2019s LNG facilities may be significantly higher than previously estimated, Zhizhin said.<\/p>\n The fact that LNG Canada flared a significant volume of gas every single day in 2025 is unusual, according to researchers. A peer-reviewed paper<\/a> published last September found LNG terminals in a start-up phase have a 90 per cent chance of flaring less than six days a year and only a 10% chance of flaring for as many as 255 days in a single year.<\/p>\n Laura Minet, lead author of the paper and head of the Clean Air Lab at the University of Victoria, in British Columbia, explained \u201cthe probabilities are based on what has been happening in other facilities around the world between 2012 and 2022.\u201d She said the frequency of flaring at LNG Canada does not appear to be typical, especially compared to LNG facilities that have moved from commissioning into regular operations. But, she said, because companies around the world aren\u2019t required to track how much gas is flared, getting accurate data can be challenging.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that LNG Canada is saying the technical issue is going to take three years to fix is concerning,\u201d Minet added. \u201cIt raises questions over what is getting prioritized and where the likely environmental and health impacts from this pollution fit into those priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n Doleman agreed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe operators and project proponents should tell people why this plant is flaring so much and tell them exactly how they are going to address this issue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n LNG markets subject to instability as U.S.-Israel war on Iran continues<\/p>\n The ongoing global energy crisis in the wake of the U.S.-Israel attacks on Iran in late February has seen the price of LNG more than double<\/a> for some importers and led to windfall profits for some exporters.<\/p>\n A second phase of the LNG Canada project, which would double output from the plant, was recently given federal support<\/a> and placed on a list of projects deemed to be of national importance. The consortium of companies behind the facility is actively seeking investment<\/a> in the expansion.<\/p>\n The U.S. is currently the world\u2019s largest LNG exporter, followed by Australia and Qatar. Geopolitical instability caused by the war in the Middle East \u2014 which saw Qatar halt LNG production<\/a> in March \u2014 could influence importing countries like South Korea and Japan as they balance energy needs.<\/p>\n However, the current wave of high prices could have lasting impacts on demand for LNG as importing nations look to cheaper alternatives, Doleman said. Recently, a planned LNG import terminal in China was cancelled by state-owned Sinopec<\/a>, which reallocated its investments to the development of domestic gas reserves. In New Zealand, plans for an import terminal are being reconsidered<\/a> as the country\u2019s government weighs the financial risks.<\/p>\n \u201cThe current high price environment is killing long-term demand for LNG around the world and it is going to be interesting to see how things pan out for the [Canadian] facility over the coming years,\u201d Doleman said.<\/p>\n This investigation is a collaboration between The Narwhal and Point Source<\/a>, a U.K.-based investigative journalism organization.<\/p>\n This story<\/a> was produced by The Narwhal<\/a> and reviewed and distributed by Stacker<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"View](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/kitimat-may-2023-marty-clemens-shot-for-the-narwhal23.jpg\")
Marty Clemens \/\/ The Narwhal<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/logView.png\")
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