Public-private partnership building B.C. resource road

Gary Park

Petroleum News Calgary correspondent

A public-private partnership has signed a deal to open year-round access to almost 7,000 square miles of oil and natural gas territory in northeastern British Columbia.

British Columbia Energy and Mines Minister Richard Neufeld announced in late June that Ledcor Projects had signed a C$40 million deal to design, finance and upgrade a 105-mile resource road in the Fort Nelson area.

A bridge will be completed by December 1 and work on the Sierra Yoyo Desan Road will be finished by the end of 2005, when two-lane traffic will flow between Fort Nelson and the operating areas.

Neufeld said in a statement that upgrading and strengthening the road will “allow for year-round access and generate an increase in oil and gas exploration and development activities” in British Columbia’s gas stronghold.

He said the undertaking is a “good example of an innovative public-private partnership that will create employment and economic opportunities for B.C.”

Neufeld’s ministry and industrial road users will jointly administer fees collected from industrial activity within the area serviced by the road. The fees will ensure Ledcor is reimbursed for improving, upgrading and maintaining the road over the 16-year term of the agreement.

The project is another phase in the British Columbia government’s desire to move the petroleum industry from its winter-only to year-round operations.