U.S. vehicle plan boosts B.C. gas

Premier Gordon Campbell, former energy minister Richard Neufeld and current minister Blair Lekstrom were on hand when EnCana Corp. opened its Steeprock gas plant near Dawson Creek in 2006.
EnCana Corp. photo


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Text By Tom Fletcher - BC Local News


Published: July 12, 2009 10:00 AM
Updated: July 12, 2009 10:46 AM

0 Comments As the U.S. Senate considers a plan to subsidize production of natural gas vehicles, B.C.'s industry is ramping up to bring huge new reserves to market.

Calgary-based EnCana Corp. has submitted its environmental assessment application for the Cabin gas plant 60 km north of Fort Nelson. If approved, the plant would process gas from the Horn River shale formation in northeastern B.C., where eight companies have bet heavily on new drilling techniques and rising demand.

The application to B.C.'s Environment Assessment Office includes a network of pipelines to collect and process gas to remove traces of hydrogen sulphide. EnCana and its partners are also considering equipment to capture carbon dioxide, piping it to an oilfield in Alberta and into local underground storage if it is financially feasible.

The U.S. vehicle conversion proposal focuses on transport trucks as well as passenger cars, aimed at energy security as much as reducing pollution. It was announced by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, with support from Republicans and Texas energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens, a long-time booster of natural gas for vehicles.

It would increase the maximum tax credit for a light-duty vehicle from $5,000 to $12,500, with breaks up to $80,000 for heavy trucks. A property tax credit for new filling stations would double to $100,000, and a 100 per cent tax deduction would be offered for building natural gas vehicle manufacturing plants.

Announcing the legislation last week, Reid noted that the U.S. currently consumes a quarter of the world's daily supply of oil, and holds only three per cent of all reserves.

"Natural gas is an abundant resource, with 98 per cent of natural gas used in the U.S. originating right here in North America," he said in a statement from Washington DC.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says natural gas vehicles reduce toxic emissions by more than 90 per cent.

The Horn River and Montney shales in B.C. have shifted the focus of gas development in Western Canada, as older conventional fields in Alberta have become more costly.


Buck