Top Ten - LNG Strategy

Courtesy of Hon. Pat Bell - Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation:

This week the Premier announced our new Natural Gas strategy. I’m very optimistic about this opportunity and what it can mean for Northern BC in the coming decade. While the Peace region of our Province has benefitted from this industry for some time the new strategy will spread the benefits around and create a new industry for many of us.

The strategy has 4 key elements to it including:

1) Greater emphasis on market diversification to increase the value of B.C.’s natural gas.
2) Support job creation together with industry, educators and communities.
3) Continued strong leadership on clean energy and climate change moving forward.
4) A redefinition of the Province’s self-sufficiency policy to ensure B.C. is well-positioned to power expansion.

The entire plan can be downloaded here

This next week I will be doing quite a bit of travelling through the Cariboo-Chilcotin and out to Burns Lake discussing the BC Jobs Plan and continuing our efforts in Burns Lake to support that community. After that we are back to Victoria for the next 4 months as the Spring Legislative session starts up.

1. LNG is natural gas, cooled to -160 degrees Celsius to keep it in a liquid form.
2. It is non-toxic, odourless, non-corrosive and less dense than water.
3. Compared to conventional natural gas, LNG takes up 600 times less space.
4. Unlike conventional natural gas, it can be shipped overseas, dramatically increasing its potential markets.
5. LNG has been safely used and transported around the world for 50 years.
6. It is a stable, low-risk fuel.
7. If it spills, LNG will warm, rise and dissipate into the atmosphere.
8. 1,000 cubic feet of natural gas costs under $4 in North America in late 2011 – versus $16 in Asia. It costs about $4 to get it there.
9. Natural gas is the world’s cleanest-burning fossil fuel. For example, converting just one heavy-duty truck from diesel to natural gas has the same effect as taking 325 cars off the road.
10. As a result of this new industry BC can expect over $20 billion in direct new investment, as many as 9,000 new construction jobs, about 800 long-term jobs, thousands of potential spin-off jobs and over $1 billion a year in additional revenues to government that can be used to support Health Care, Education and Social Services right here in BC!