The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that the Metlakatla First Nation has withdrawn its support for an energy export project under construction on Ridley Island in British Columbia, escalating tensions after the Prince Rupert Port Authority's decision to block the indigenous group's diversification plans. The Globe's Brent Jang writes that AltaGas and Netherlands-based Royal Vopak NV started construction on the $1.35-billion Ridley Island Energy Export Facility, or REEF, in 2024. REEF, which is co-owned equally by AltaGas and Vopak, plans to begin exports of liquefied petroleum gas such as propane and butane to Asia by the end of 2026. The Prince Rupert Port Authority granted exclusive rights to export liquefied petroleum gas to Vopak in 2015. Vopak subsequently entered into a joint venture with AltaGas. Metlakatla, as one of the co-owners of coal exporter Trigon Pacific Terminals on Ridley Island, is upset that the port authority has frozen out the first nation and other Trigon partners in their bid to diversify into different commodities, notably propane and butane. The port authority rejected Trigon's diversification plans to protect the export monopoly on liquefied petroleum gas from Ridley Island.