Resource World Magazine

F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 1 9 www.resourceworld.com 65 New Brunswick's new premier pro oil and gas Newly-elected Premier, Blain Higgs, and his Conservative Party ran on a plat- form of wiping out an existing hydraulic fracturing (fracking) moratorium and immediately allowing limited natural gas development in the Sussex area, near Saint John, New Brunswick and narrowly got it approved in their first Throne Speech November 30 by a 25-23 margin. A former oil executive, Higgs, is also pushing to reinstate the Energy East pipeline, which Québec has stalled, and wants federal transfer payments cut to force provinces to develop their natural resources. He has also said New Brunswick will launch a legal challenge to the federal carbon tax. "I do want to make things happen in a hurry, but that's kind of my nature," he told Energy Now in a December 24 interview. "I like to look at an issue, look at the facts, and then get on with it and not spend time going around and around." Higgs has said Canada is "fractured" with little concern about Alberta's slump and Québec blocking economic development. He told The Canadian Press he found at the recent First Ministers conference there is no national sense of urgency or a strategy to deal with the 70% devaluation of oil in Alberta which is costing that province $80 million a day. Higgs favours restarting the $15.7-bil - lion Energy East pipeline project that would move western crude oil to refineries in Eastern Canada and an export terminal in Saint John, NB, though Québec. Premier Francois Legault says there's "no social acceptability" in his province for a "dirty energy" pipeline from Alberta. "Here's a province [Alberta] that has fed many of our kids for years and we've all been happy to be recipients of that transfer payment," Higgs told CP. "I'm not proud of that fact, and I would like to develop the very industry that they have." Sagging economies plague all three Maritime Provinces. In 2017, New Brunswick's level of business investment per capita was 41% below the national average and investment in non-residential structures, machinery, equipment and intellectual property products was lower there than anywhere in Canada except Prince Edward Island, according to Statistics Canada. Business investment in New Brunswick nosedived starting in 2012 and continued since a fracking ban was imposed in 2014. Resource development is a proven economic boon, drawing investment and improving the standard of living of even non-industry residents. For example, from 2000-2015, median earnings grew 27% in Alberta and 44% in Saskatchewan. And despite claims of environmentalists, a 2015 Fraser Institute review of the issue concluded that "research on the safety of hydraulic fractur - ing confirms that while there are indeed risks from this process as there are with all industrial activities, they are for the most part readily managed with available technologies and best practices." Higgs has met with Corridor Resources Inc. [CDH-TSX] which currently has 32 producing wells in the Sussex area and operates a 50-kilometre pipeline and a natural gas processing facility. Their expansion plans have been hindered by the moratorium, but if that's lifted they would drill five vertical evaluation wells, complete three existing wells, and drill a second round of up to five horizontal wells "We have to do something in New Brunswick," Higgs told CP. "We can't just say no and expect things to go well, but we can do it right." n "It's no secret that in this part of the world – the birthplace of Greenpeace – there will be an organized opposition group to resource extraction/industrial develop- ment," said Keane. "Having said that, we are committed to having an open dialogue with the community and local Indigenous people, and this dialogue has resulted in meaningful changes to the project." As a result, the Woodfibre site was moved from floating to land-based over concerns about increased noise in the marine environment and it was decided to use electricity rather than natural gas to power the plant. Woodfibre has access to a FortisBC natural gas pipeline but will be powered with electricity from BC Hydro instead of natural gas. "This will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80% and make Woodfibre LNG the cleanest LNG export facility in the world," said Keane. He wouldn't confirm reports the natural gas will come from the Montney play strad - dling the northern BC-Alberta border but said, "Yes, it's possible that our natural gas will come from the Montney." The project is expected to offer about 650 jobs at peak of construction and about 100 full-time jobs during operation. It will create an estimated $83.7 million in tax revenue for all three levels of government during construction and another $86.5 million in tax revenue annually during its operation. Woodfibre now is focused on complet - ing cleanup and maintenance work at the site by February, and meeting other condi- tions with the Squamish Nation, including co-authorizing and managing several environmental management plans. Keane doesn't anticipate further hurdles, just focusing on meeting those environmental conditions and other authorizations. The project is owned and operated by Woodfibre LNG Ltd., a subsidiary of Pacific Oil & Gas Ltd., part of the Singapore-based Royal Golden Eagle [3308-HK] group of companies. n

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