British Columbia will make its “biggest contribution to Canada” in its history if projects to tap into its massive natural gas reserves get the necessary investment in the coming months, Premier Christy Clark says.
As the fates of pipeline projects that will move Alberta bitumen to both coasts and south to the United States are being decided, Clark says B.C. is poised to make its own splash on the international energy market.
Natural gas development is slated to ramp up, and some estimates say B.C. has about 150 years’ worth of natural gas reserves.
Clark says China in particular is eyeing B.C. reserves as it seeks to reduce its carbon footprint by lowering its dependence on coal.
“We’ve got as much energy stored in our natural gas fields as Alberta has in the oilsands,” Clark told CTV’s Power Play in an interview that aired Thursday. “That’s a lot of product.”
Natural gas pipeline construction could explode next year if a handful of projects secure the necessary funding, she said.
“That will mean we’re going to start building, we’re going to start seeing those pipelines built across the province and we’re going to start making, I hope, the biggest contribution to Canada that we have ever made as a province,” Clark told Power Play host Don Martin.
Clark said development of B.C.’s natural gas industry will create an estimated 100,000 jobs in the province. The new revenues will allow B.C. to pay down its debt.
B.C. will also “do its biggest favour for the environment” by helping China reduce its dependence on coal.
“We would be doing a huge favour to the world in reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” Clark said, “because we all share that air.”
