Bill’s Weekly Report July 28, 2010
Posted by admin in : Uncategorized , trackbackI spent last week travelling around BC’s vast north. Started on Sunday in Terrace talking to the folks up there about the $450 million NW Transmission line that will open up NW BC to independent power production and to new mines. The potential there is breathtaking and the people in the NW really deserve some economic action. We’ve been fortunate these past 10 years in the East Kootenay. They haven’t seen much happening and they’ve lost their forest industry almost totally. The NW Transmission line will go from Terrace to Bob Quinn and then a second project will take it to Iskut. Bob Quinn is where the hydro line from Alta Gas’s Forrest Kerr IPP project will intersect with highway 37 and the NW line. That’s also where the Galore Creek mine project comes out to the highway. Iskut is a little Tahltan town on highway 37 where Imperial Metal’s access road cuts off for their Red Chris mine project.
On Monday, myself, members of the Tahltan leadership, the two provincial mining association, BC Hydro rep’s and the brass from Imperial Metals flew charters to Dease Lake from Terrace and then helicopter into Red Chris mine site. Red Chris will start as an open pit and then may change into an underground mine. Copper and gold grades are relatively high and there is a world class size deposit at the site. Red Chris may well be the next Highland Valley or Sullivan Mine in BC, in terms of its longevity and impact on the provincial economy. It is very exciting for the Province and the region. A mine like this one can generate hundreds if not thousands of jobs over many decades. It will be a true economic engine and the environmental impacts are manageable. I spent several hours with Tahltan leaders and despite some concern about what the development will do to their lives, they agree that their people want the good jobs and that we will all work hard to make sure the mine project is a positive thing.
On Tuesday morning, I flew from Vancouver to Fort St John and spent the rest of the week in the NE. I visited FSJ, Taylor, Dawson Creek and Fort Nelson and met with the mayors and the regional district reps from all NE communities. It was a getting-to-know-you tour. I am the first Energy minister not from the NE in 10 years, so I have some proving to do. I spent a fascinating day in the Fort Nelson area. That’s where the Horn and Liard natural gas basins are located. These two basins contain major world class natural gas plays, the size and scope of which is matched only in one or two other places in the world. Last month, my ministry sold $404 million worth of gas tenures up there. I couldn’t help but think that young people in BC would do well to consider the area for a future. There will be many millionaires created in this area over the next 10 years. Any one of able body and mind, who wants to work in this province, has opportunity in the NE.
I also toured some of Encana’s sites, a drilling operation and a gas processing plant. I enjoy learning how the industry works, must be the engineer in me. It is fascinating how the industry gets the gas out of shale formations and non-porous sandstone formations. Just five years ago, there was no technology to acquire this gas and today, this technology is underlying a huge industry that will drive BC’s economy for decades. The communities in the NE receive millions every year from their Fairshare Program, a possibility for the Elk Valley if the coal bed gas industry ever does take off there. FSJ alone received $15 million in cash from the program last year!
I gave a speech to the FSJ Chamber of Commerce on Thursday night that seemed to go over fairly well. They are curious about the new Energy minister. And on Friday, I spent a few hours with the Oil & Gas Commission. Surprisingly, I am the first Energy minister to spend time meeting with the OGC! I guess the guys before me figured they knew enough about the Commission’s work but OGC staff sure appreciated my being there discussing the issues they encounter. They are the regulator for the oil and gas industry, including the coal bed gas industry in our area. They have a large photo prominently displayed of the wooden drill platform that is now located outside the Fernie Chamber of Commerce. The Flathead oil exploration was the first in BC! They also have a full record of all the gas, CO2, and oil drilling that has taken place in the Elk and Flathead Valleys over the years. Interesting how Wildsight has insisted that gas exploration in our region is “new” when our region has the longest history of it in the province. In any case, BP has sold its Canadian assets to Apache. I will in due course meet with senior Apache rep’s to determine their intentions for the Mist Mountain project. In the meantime, Storm Cat continues to work on its CBM project north of Elkford. This gas project has been going since 2000, permitted by none other than the NDP government! With BC’s strict rules disallowing any discharge on to the land of water produced from gas wells, companies are probably thinking twice about spending money on CBM exploration. The low price of gas is also a factor. But some day, it is likely that the clean natural gas that lies within the coal seams in the Elk Valley will be of serious interest to the world.
I came home Friday night to my patient, supportive wife, Beth, and went fishing on Saturday with Beth and Dylan. We hiked into a little lake we’d heard about a year ago. It was a beautiful, secluded little lake with some small rainbows in it. We fished it hard but only caught one fish (Dylan, the keen fisherman caught it of course). We ended our day with some cold pizza and a cold beer at a picnic table on Cherry Lake as the sun set over the Purcell Mountains, the end to a busy but satisfying week. This coming week I am in Vancouver and Victoria until Wednesday night, then Calgary. On Friday, Beth and I fly back east to visit family and do some fishing for a couple of weeks. You might not hear from me now for a few weeks.
Take care.
Bill
Comments
Sorry comments are closed for this entry