NWT sees LNG as option

The Northwest Territories government is open to supporting an LNG export project to develop Canada’s stranded Arctic gas resources, said NWT Industry Minister David Ramsay.

He said that although his government prefers to build a pipeline down the Mackenzie River Valley to southern markets, LNG is not off the table.

That notion got support from the Aboriginal Pipeline Group, which could own one-third of a Mackenzie pipeline if it is able to secure matching gas supplies from outside the main gas owners group, led by Imperial Oil.

APG President Bob Reid told Reuters said his group is “absolutely” open to a route change for the pipeline to participate in an LNG project.

“We’re not constrained by routing at all,” he said. “But, at the moment, there’s not a plan to … go from the Mackenzie Delta westward (to the North American coast).”

Reid said that could see Mackenzie gas moved to the Alaska coast.

“There is an obvious connection there, but it does have some challenges,” he said, referring to any proposal that would require gas to be shipped across the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Imperial Chief Executive Officer Bruce March was hesitant about using Mackenzie gas for world-scale LNG development.

“It is too early for us to comment on that today because we’re still in the early stages of looking,” he said.

Ramsay said that although the NWT supports the stalled Mackenzie Gas Project over all other options “we’re willing to discuss any opportunities or options with anybody who’s interested in developing our resources.”

—Gary Park