The decision by Chevron Corp. to try to sell its 50 per cent stake in the Kitimat LNG project on the B.C. coast throws a symbolic dash of “long-dated cold water” on growth in the Canadian natural gas industry, an analysis says.

The California-based company announced the potential sale in its 2020 budget, adding it would also cut funding to gas-related ventures including Kitimat LNG and its shale gas fields in the northeastern United States.

It also announced a charge of at least US$10 billion against its assets because of expected lower long-term prices for oil and gas.

“With (Tuesday’s) budget, Chevron threw some long-dated cold water on the Canadian gas macro, as the company announced they are reducing funding for the Kitimat LNG project,” said analysts at Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. in a report Wednesday.

“While we don’t think investors were baking in any long-term gas demand related to the project, any advancements likely would have been well received.”

The analysts pointed out Chevron has access to about 100 million cubic feet per day of gas production to supply the proposed project to super-cool and ship out as much as 2.3 billion cubic feet of gas per day.

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