September 23, 2026
Shell and partners are set to approve doubling the LNG Canada project, adding massive new export capacity.
What happened
Shell and its partners are poised to approve a plan that would double the LNG Canada project. The decision moved roughly 500 billion dollars of market value. Crude oil prices also gained 1 percent on the day.
Why it matters
Doubling the facility adds a major new source of liquefied natural gas to global markets, directly increasing supply. More supply flowing from Canada to Asia and Europe puts downward pressure on global gas prices. This shifts the energy trade landscape, with the added capacity disrupting existing pricing power held by other major exporters.
The case against
The approval signals a long term bet that gas demand will stay high for decades, but the energy transition could dent that demand sooner than expected. A wave of new global LNG supply is already on the way, so this added capacity might arrive just as the market flips into a glut, crushing the project's returns.
What settles it
The final investment decision and the target date for first gas from the expansion.