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INUVIK
The Ikhil Joint Venture community consultation meeting held at Ingamo Hall Monday was a place to get information on a potential new well at South Parsons Lake, but not the place to get the answers residents wanted concerning their monthly bills.

Colin Nikiforuk, general manager of Ikhil Joint Venture, was on hand to explain the proposed drilling program, the construction plans for this coming winter, the project timeline and additional facilities needed on site at the Ikhil plant and at the Inuvik gate station. Ikhil Joint Venture sells gas to Inuvik Gas and the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.

The project description is scheduled to move forward at the end of the week to the Environmental Impact Screening Committee for review and, if all goes well, it will receive assent from the committee in mid-May. By late June, the National Energy Board will make its determination.

Digging for information

Steven Baryluk of the Inuvialuit Game Council was digging for information about what residents of Inuvik can expect both short and long term as to cost increases to ratepayers while this project is developed. This meeting came a few days after Northwest Territories Power Corporation announced its general rate application, asking for approval of a 29-per-cent rate increase spread over four years.

"We're already hearing news again now too of the power corporation looking for rate increases so we're looking at increases on some of the key things that are on our monthly costs for a homeowner and a business owner ... What's it going to cost me?"

However, any questions raised at the meeting relating to potential rate increases were deflected. Mayor Denny Rodgers spoke up from the gathering of about 15 people to explain that these questions will be answered on April 10 – when the Town of Inuvik hosts a public information session at the Midnight Sun Complex at 7 p.m. At that meeting, all bodies involved in Inuvik's natural gas situation will be present, including Ikhil Joint Venture, ATCO Midstream NWT, Inuvialuit Petroleum Corporation and the GNWT.

"We know that people want to know what's going on and what the options are and what the plan is. That's why the mayor has called a meeting to try and address those questions," said Nikiforuk.

That wasn't enough for some present. Dave Kaufman, a business owner in town, said he's already started to feel the impact of the town's stressful economic environment.

"You've got to realize that we're worried, we're getting very frustrated, and waiting another 20 days just adds to that frustration," he said.

The information supplied only concerned South Parsons Lake, which is the area identified as the best alternative for a long-term gas supply to replace Ikhil gas. Nikiforuk said it's not an exploratory well and Ikhil has "enough technical information to know what the project will look like" and the risk of not finding gas is very low. The South Parson's Lake reserve Ikhil is hoping to drill is owned by ConocoPhillips and is located approximately 75 km northeast of Inuvik.

Financial assistance

The cost of the project is estimated at between $60 and $70 million, with $40-$45 million to drill the well and $20-$30 million for the pipeline facilities. Nikiforuk said whether drilling starts in 2012-13 is dependent on financial assistance from the town and the GNWT.

The plan is to drill a 3,000-metre-deep well, which should take about 90 days. Nikiforuk said, for drilling to start in January 2013, the winter road to get all infrastructure and supplies to the site would need to be in place by December. Two new corrosion-resistant two-inch, 28-km long pipes would be installed from February until April, along with a third pipe half to three-quarters of an inch in diameter to supply the methanol needed to produce the well. In the summer, only one two-inch pipe will be used. The pipes will go to the existing facility at Ikhil, where modifications will be made. The well should be completed by mid-April, with the wellhead equipment and tie-in in place by May 1, 2013. Nikiforuk said there is more than 150 years of gas supply estimated to be at the site.

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