LNG industry analyst Zeus Development Corp. has identified 33 sites in the United States, Canada and Mexico that hold possible competitive advantages for developers of LNG export terminals.

Sixteen of those sites would offer access to Pacific trade routes to Asian markets without having to transit the Panama or Suez Canal. The remaining are on the East Coast or along the Gulf of Mexico.

"North America's natural gas landscape has changed so radically in the past five years that many sites once considered for import terminals now offer advantages as export plants,” Bob Nimocks, president of Zeus, said. “Former liquefaction and export sites such as the once-proposed Yukon Pacific near Valdez, Alaska, might offer advantages as well.”

The American Gas Association's Potential Gas Committee estimates that the United States has nearly 2 quadrillion cubic feet of undiscovered gas. Canada and Mexico also are believed to hold vast undiscovered reserves. British Columbia alone is estimated to contain 1.1 quadrillion cubic feet of natural gas, enough to supply 20 world-scale export plants for more than 100 years.

In recent months, natural gas in North America has traded for as little as $2.50 per million Btu while Asian gas prices have exceeded $15/MMBtu. Yet, U.S. export projects are being delayed by government regulators, opening an opportunity for Canada and Mexico.

Fifteen pipelines connect Mexico to the United States. Mexico increased its imports of U.S. natural gas by 50 percent last year. Domestic production has also been climbing with successes in Mexican gas field development. The Zeus survey has identified eight potential LNG export sites in the country.

In total, the 33 sites represent a potential export capacity of 300 million tonnes, which would more than double world LNG trade.

Each represents more than 1,000 construction jobs and investments of more than $5 billion in new infrastructure and equipment.