Crude oil and LNG prices dropped this week on news that Iran and the United States had agreed to a temporary ceasefire. After five weeks of war, Wall Street is hoping for a return to business as usual.

But Iran now controls the passage of tankers in and out of the Persian Gulf. Its Houthi allies in Yemen have similar leverage in the Red Sea. They could squeeze these twin arteries of the global economy at any time.

What does this mean for the American billionaires trying to build new LNG infrastructure on the West Coast of B.C.?

They’re pitching Canada as a “secure” source of gas for Asian power plants, protected by U.S. air power in Alaska. But despite the shortage of LNG from the Middle East, nobody is biting.

The American-owned Ksi Lisims LNG proposal has failed to sign up any new customers in the last year. Now, the price spike caused by the war has Asian countries reevaluating their dependence on LNG.

Why buy expensive shipments of fuel every month from the Americans, when you can buy solar panels or wind turbines from China, and harvest electricity for free?

That is the calculus leaders are now making in South Korea, Vietnam, Pakistan, India and beyond. And without long-term contracts from these customers, new LNG terminals can’t get construction loans from banks.

Enter the Canadian government. “We're excited to help America achieve energy dominance,” said minister Tim Hodgson, pledging to build 100 million tonnes of LNG export capacity.

The only way to “de-risk” these foreign-owned LNG projects is by propping them up with taxpayer money. So that’s what our politicians are preparing to do.

We’ve got days, maybe weeks to convince them to rethink this ruinous plan.