Outgoing Terasen Inc. president and CEO Randy Jespersen: believes new shale gas basins could be a game-changer for North America
Spectra, which has an office in Vancouver, said the plant would process 200 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and serve major producers in B.C.’s gas-rich Montney basin.
BIV got Spectra’s vice-president of field services Duane Rae on the phone this morning to talk about the project.
“This is a significant project for us. These don’t come along every day,” said Rae from his Calgary office. “It is required because of the growth in Montney production. We’re seeing the Montney as a very economic place for producers to invest their money even in a low-price environment.”
Spectra, in one form or another, has been processing gas in Northeast B.C. for half a century, he said, and the company plans to spend $1.5 billion in capital investments in the province over the next three years.
The company employs 800 people in B.C. and operates 19,100 miles of transmission pipelines throughout Canada and the U.S.
Rae said Spectra would pay for the plant itself, which would be located near Dawson Creek, but he wouldn’t say how much it would cost to build.
In January, the provincial government approved an environmental assessment certificate for EnCana Corp.’s (TSX:ECA) proposed Cabin Gas Plant project to be located near Fort Nelson.
EnCana said the project would process 800 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and cost between $800 million and $1 billion to build.
Spectra said its Dawson Creek plant was fully contracted and would be completed in 2013.
The announcement comes as a number of Canadian and international gas players continue to launch major projects in the Montney and Horn River basins (see “Major international players eye B.C. gas riches” – issue 1063, March 9-15).
In a recent BIV interview, outgoing Terasen Inc. president and CEO Randy Jespersen said he believes new shale gas basins could be a game-changer for North America’s power sector and support renewable energy projects.
“This gas supply will be the source of electricity generation to replace nuclear and aging coal fleets and contribute to meet growth,” said Jespersen. “That doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for renewables, but these gas fleets will firm up those renewables for when the wind isn’t blowing or the river is at a low ebb.”
Check out next week’s edition of BIV for a Q&A with Jespersen and his incoming replacement John Walker.