* TC Energy ( TRP ) ready for LNG Canada Phase 2 expansion

* Iran war highlights LNG value bypassing Strait of

Hormuz

* Canada aims to be top LNG exporter to Asia, Poirier

says

By Amanda Stephenson

HOUSTON, March 23 (Reuters) - The disruption to global

liquefied natural gas supplies caused by the Iran war makes it

more likely that a second stage of Canada's massive LNG Canada

facility will be built, the CEO of Canadian pipeline company TC

Energy ( TRP ) predicted in Houston on Monday.

While just weeks ago, market-watchers were talking about a

potential glut of LNG globally, the Iran war has underscored the

value of LNG that can reach Asia directly without transiting the

Strait of Hormuz, TC Energy ( TRP ) CEO François Poirier said.

TC's Coastal GasLink pipeline supplies natural gas to the

Shell-led LNG Canada facility located near Kitimat, British

Columbia, which started production in June 2025 as the first

major LNG facility in North America with direct access to the

Pacific. Poirier said he is not privy to Shell or its

partners' decision-making process on a potential second phase.

"What they have pushed us to do, however, is be ready,"

Poirier said in an interview in Houston at the CERAWeek by S&P

Global conference.

LNG Canada's Phase 1 will be able to export 14 million metric

tons of LNG when fully ramped up. Shell and its partners are

expected to make a final decision about Stage 2 later this year.

If approved, it would double the project's capacity.

"Canada should aspire to being the largest exporter of LNG

to Asia," he said, adding he believes there is enough demand to

support both LNG Canada Phase 2 and the proposed Ksi Lisims LNG

project that would be located further north along the coast.

That project's proposed capacity is 12 million metric tons,

which would make it Canada's second-largest LNG export facility.

If LNG Canada Phase 2 gets the go-ahead, TC Energy ( TRP ) would expand

its Coastal GasLink pipeline over two or three years of

construction, including additional compressor stations to serve

the enlarged facility, Poirier said.