CALGARY, Nov 6 (Reuters) - LNG Canada has started

production of liquefied natural gas at the second of its

two processing units, known as Train 2, the company said.

Both trains at the Shell-led project in Kitimat,

British Columbia - each with a capacity of 6.5 million metric

tons per annum - are now operational, a spokesperson told

Reuters.

LNG Canada is the first major LNG export facility in Canada and

the first on the west coast of North America that provides

direct access to Asia, the world's largest market for the liquid

fuel. When fully operational, the facility is expected to

process about two billion cubic feet of gas per day.

LNG Canada, which took almost seven years to build, shipped its

first cargo on June 30. However, technical challenges have made

the ramp-up slower than many analysts expected.

A 22nd LNG cargo departed the LNG Canada facility on Thursday

for export to global markets, the spokesperson said.

Market participants have expressed hope that the startup of the

second train will create enough demand to reduce the glut of

natural gas in storage in Western Canada and help lift prices.

LNG Canada is a joint venture between Shell, Malaysia's Petronas

PGAS.KL, PetroChina, Japan's Mitsubishi Corp ( MSBHF )

, and South Korea's KOGAS.

Last month, MidOcean - an LNG company backed by EIG and Saudi

Aramco - announced a plan to buy a fifth of the Petronas venture

that holds a 25% share of LNG Canada.

(Reporting by Amanda Stephenson in Calgary and Curtis Williams

in Houston; Editing by Nathan Crooks and Emelia

Sithole-Matarise)