Canada's Northwest Territories sit on trillions of cubic feet of natural gas, yet many of its 43,000 residents pay more than they should to heat their homes each winter because they have to rely on diesel fuel. The territorial government wants to change that, Minister of Industry, Tourism, and Investment David Ramsay told OGJ on Mar. 6.
It completed a devolution agreement with the federal government in Toronto in April 2014, and now is responsible for managing its land and water with some legacy federal employees. "Now, we're calling the shots," said Ramsay, who attended the US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee's hearing on US government policies in Alaska a day earlier.
"It's a stark contrast to our friends in Alaska, who are arguing with the federal government over who should control resources there," he observed.
The Northwest Territories government received a grant from Toronto to run its operations but none of the revenue from resources that were produced there, Ramsay explained. Now, it gets the revenue-and immediately relays 25% of its share to Aboriginal communities in what the minister termed a one-of-a-kind arrangement.
The territories' 2013 economic development plan called for an oil and gas strategy, which is being developed and, Ramsay said, should be completed in a few months. A minerals development strategy was completed last year, and some of its recommendations are being implemented, he said.
While its oil and gas resources have not been developed extensively, the territories have a long oil and gas history, Ramsay said. "Norman Wells, which is ExxonMobil's longest-serving Canadian asset, was discovered in 1921, and we've had an Enbridge pipeline to Alberta since 1985," he noted.
McKenzie Gas Project
Infrastructure will be the key to reducing residents' energy prices, Ramsay said. The government already is building the first all-weather road to Canada's North Coast. It also proposed constructing the McKenzie Gas Project, a 1,196-km pipeline system along the Mackenzie Valley to connect northern onshore gas fields with North American markets.
Ramsay said the project had some $635 million (Can.) of work commitments before prices plunged, when some were deferred. The government is trying to get infrastructure in place in the interim, he told OGJ.
It also is considering possibly proposing a pipeline north from Alberta's oil sands. "It seems other projects from there are encountering hurdles," Ramsay said. He said he met with now-US Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alas.) last year when he was the state's oil and gas commissioner, and ministers from Alberta and Yukon more recently to discuss the idea.
"There's lots of promise in the North," Ramsay declared. "We're going to be front and center."
