British Columbia has a unique opportunity to create thousands of jobs and generate revenues in excess of $100 billion over the next 30 years, while also facilitating positive environmental change with the world鈥檚 cleanest-burning fossil fuel.
This opportunity requires a liquefied-natural-gas export industry to be built on our coastline, and it requires action now to ensure British Columbians benefit.
LNG provides us all with an opportunity to create unprecedented economic security for our future. Like other jurisdictions have done, we intend to create a Prosperity Fund into which revenues from our natural gas sector will flow and which will help eliminate B.C.鈥檚 debt.
The global demand for energy is increasing rapidly, and B.C. has a vast supply of natural gas to be part of the solution. The economic growth in Asia is expected to account for half of the global gross domestic product within decades. Over the next 20听to 30 years, their demand for new natural-gas supply will increase dramatically.
According to Wood Mackenzie Research, a global energy, metals and mining research and consulting company, LNG demand is projected to increase two-and-a-half times between 2010 and 2030 and is being led by Japan, followed by South Korea, China and India.
The market potential is clear, especially when you consider the commodity price of natural gas is more than five times higher in Asia than it is here in British Columbia. This is mainly due to the fact that most LNG contracts in Asia are pegged to oil pricing.
We are well-positioned to compete with global LNG players. With a close proximity to Asia, British Columbia provides a lower shipping cost for industry. We also provide a stable business environment with a strong regulatory framework in place. These are all important factors that have helped to put us in the game.
Make no mistake, the safety and security of British Columbians and the environment remains our top priority. We recognize climate change is a global issue and we will not sacrifice the environment for new resource development. That is why we have been very clear that we are working to ensure LNG facilities in B.C. are the cleanest in the world, and discussions are ongoing with LNG proponents to ensure that becomes our reality.
We are also encouraged about the positive environmental contributions we can provide by developing a new LNG industry in British Columbia. It puts us in a position to decrease emissions globally by replacing coal with natural gas. As the cleanest-burning fossil fuel available, natural gas is widely recognized as the right fuel to bridge the gap to a greener future.
As for the use of hydraulic fracturing in our natural-gas sector, we have a 50-year record of safely recovering oil and gas resources and protecting groundwater in the process.
Simply put, B.C.鈥檚 natural-gas sector is safe and responsible, and we have some of the most modern rules in the world for resource development. Our regulations were updated in 2010 and continue to be improved in response to the growth in the natural-gas sector and the emergence of unconventional gas exploration, such as shale.
It is also worth noting that technical factors, such as geology or depth of shale formations, differ in every jurisdiction. In addition to the strict regulations we have in place, B.C.鈥檚 shale formations are very deep underground and naturally isolated from groundwater, which further ensures the safety of exploration activities here.
For these reasons, shale gas development is considered to be safest in B.C. and a major reason why industry is confident about their investment decisions and project planning for LNG.
The natural-gas sector is going to be a key part of our lasting legacy for future generations. It has the promise to change our economy.
While it is true it will take a few years before the first LNG plant is operational, that day will never come if we don鈥檛 continue to build on our accomplishments and take action now to make it happen.
Working with industry, First Nations and local communities, we continue to advance the opportunity, and together we are confident we will realize our long-term vision for British Columbians.
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Rich Coleman is B.C.鈥檚 minister of natural gas development.
