The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that oil major Shell and Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi are exploring sale options for their respective stakes in the $40-billion LNG Canada project. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe, citing unnamed sources, said the moves come as owners of the massive liquefied natural gas facility weigh a potential expansion, and after another stakeholder, Petronas, successfully offloaded a piece of the project. Shell, the largest owner with a 40-per-cent stake in LNG Canada, has been working with investment bankers at Rothschild & Co. to sound out interested parties in recent weeks, said two of the sources. Shell could off-load as much as three-quarters of its holding, or 30 per cent of the project. Shell has expressed willingness, however, to consider different options relating to its exposure to the project's phase 1, which is operational, and the proposed phase 2, given their different risks. One of the sources estimated that any buyer for Shell's stake could be committing roughly $15-billion (U.S.), inclusive of the equity stake, debt and capital requirements for phase 2. Mitsubishi, which holds a 15-per-cent stake, has hired RBC Capital Markets as it weighs its options.