Developers from a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal in Washington County have asked the federal government to ban Canadian access to the U.S. natural gas market until the Canadian government allows LNG tankers through Head Harbour Passage.

“This filing is an effort to ensure that Canada does not take advantage of U.S. free market policies while at the same time blocking Quoddy Bay’s access to the market by prohibiting access to the facility,” Quoddy Bay LNG President Don Smith said in a statement released Friday.

Oklahoma-based Quoddy Bay LNG is awaiting approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to build a multimillion-dollar liquefied natural gas terminal in Perry.

Last month, the Canadian government asserted it will not allow LNG tankers to pass through the Canadian waters of Head Harbour Passage to deliver their cargo to U.S.-based LNG facilities.

On Feb. 21, Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline LLC received approval from FERC to expand its existing pipeline to allow Canada’s Canaport LNG to use the pipeline to carry natural gas to the U.S. market. Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline is owned by U.S.-based companies Duke Energy and Exxon Mobil and Canadian-based energy company Emera Inc.

Canaport LNG, located in Saint John, New Brunswick, plans to deliver natural gas through the Emera New Brunswick Pipeline to the U.S. portion of the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, located at the New Brunswick-Maine border.

Quoddy Bay LNG is an intervenor, or legally recognized party, in the FERC proceedings with Maritimes & Northeast.

On Friday, Quoddy Bay LNG filed a “Request for Rehearing and Modification” with FERC, asking the commission to amend the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline permit to prohibit the flow of gas from Canada to the United States through the pipeline if the Canadian government bans LNG tanker access to Maine.

Quoddy Bay’s statement quoted its filing as saying that “access on a fair, nondiscriminatory, and timely basis to Head Harbour Passage is just as essential to Quoddy Bay as access to the Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline is to Canaport.”

FERC spokeswoman Tamara Young-Allen said Friday that the request has not been processed yet. The commission has at least 30 days to respond, Young-Allen said.

Quoddy Bay LNG said in its statement that “the purpose of this filing is to ensure open and free competition between the U.S. and Canada. … Quoddy Bay representatives believe that open, market-based competition can be maintained if the FERC requires reciprocity in market access.”