UPDATE: On Oct. 2, 2018, less than a month after this article was published, LNG Canada announced it will go ahead with the $40-billion project.

In the two decades since Aaron Gallagher packed his bags and left Vancouver Island for work in Alberta, he's made the province his home and its biggest industry his career.

The oilfield services sales manager speaks proudly of both, recalling how, in good times, he could work three months straight — without a day off. When things are bad, he says, people dig deep to find enough work to feed their families.

The father of two, sporting a dark cap, its brim pulled down low, cracks a smile, recalling an expression he said he heard the other day about life in the oilpatch.

"Sometimes I eat chicken, and sometimes I eat feathers," said Gallagher, chatting from an office on the edge of Grande Prairie in northwest Alberta. "It sums up the industry in the last few years. And yes, it has been frustrating."

Grande Prairie, Alta., resident Aaron Gallagher works for Beaut Oilfield Services, an oil and gas trucking company. (Tony Seskus/CBC)

Grande Prairie, Alta., resident Aaron Gallagher works for Beaut Oilfield Services, an oil and gas trucking company. (Tony Seskus/CBC)

The Canadian oilpatch has been through some tough times recently and is now making the long climb back from the commodity price crash that started in mid-2014 and led to tens of thousands of layoffs.

There is cautious optimism that the future of the energy sector promises more chicken than feathers — and one reason is a proposed $40-billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project on Canada's West Coast. The price tag includes a new 670-kilometre pipeline that would ship gas from northeast British Columbia to the site of the proposed facility in Kitimat.

The LNG Canada project, first announced in 2011, not only has the potential to be one of the priciest construction ventures in Canadian history but a much-needed linchpin for the country's foray into a $90-billion global market. While Canada has a single LNG import facility on the East Coast, the country doesn't have any export terminals.

With vast supplies of natural gas in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada looks ready to compete with the United States, Australia and others for a share of the growing LNG market.

While a series of other LNG projects have fallen apart in recent years, some analysts believe this project is practically a done deal — that the consortium behind LNG Canada, a group led by Royal Dutch Shell, will give it final approval in the coming weeks.

Certainly, it appears to be gathering momentum.

Malaysia's state-owned energy company, Petronas, took a 25 per cent stake in LNG Canada this spring. Contracts have been awarded to supply work camps along the proposed pipeline route on the condition the LNG terminal is built. Preparation for marine construction that would increase the depth of the berthing areas in the Port of Kitimat is starting this summer.

It's really important for our industry. It's important for pricing and for jobs and tax revenues.

Timing for the project could be critical because the next wave of LNG demand is expected to hit in the early 2020s, meaning the project's clock may already be ticking.

For Shell's part, the company told investors last month that the project looks "very promising" but indicated more homework was still needed.

"We see great opportunities but we also have clear expectations when it comes to competitiveness, affordability and returns," chief financial officer Jessica Uhl told analysts.

What is certain is Canada's energy sector has a lot riding on Shell's decision.

If the LNG industry fails to launch, some believe natural gas's future in Western Canada will languish, as Canada's only customer for natural gas — the U.S. — ramps up development of its own resources and weans itself off imports.

But a thumbs-up on the project could send a powerful signal to the industry that Canada wants investment and economic development — especially after recent headlines that might suggest otherwise, including Kinder Morgan backing out on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project and the federal government blocking the Chinese takeover of the construction firm AECON.

Royal Dutch Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden talks LNG prospects at CERAWeek in March 2018.

Across the Canadian energy sector, people are watching closely for developments.



"It's tremendously important for our economy," said Jonathan Wright, CEO of NuVista Energy, a Calgary-based oil and gas company with a focus on northwest Alberta.

"We must connect to the world price. It's really important for our industry. It's important for pricing and for jobs and tax revenues."

Calgary-based NuVista Energy is a mid-sized oil and gas company focused on production in the Montney formation. (NuVista Energy)