Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

NWT
Representatives from the GNWT and Tuktoyaktuk championed local and national interests in Houston, Texas, earlier this month during the Arctic Technology Conference.

Merven Gruben, left, mayor of Tuktoyaktuk, Robert Bouchard, MLA for Hay River North, and David Ramsay, minister of Industry, Tourism, and Investment, attended the Arctic Technology Conference in Houston, Texas, from Dec. 3 to 5. - photo courtesy of the GNWT

With few federal government representatives in attendance, the NWT was the face for Canada in a collection of industry, political and technological leaders.

"There was nobody there from the federal government except for the Canadian consulate based out of Dallas, so it was an opportunity for minister Ramsay to be leading the message from Canada," said Jim Stevens, deputy mayor of Tuktoyaktuk who attended the conference with Mayor Merven Gruben. "It was really the NWT that was there."

The conference ran from Dec. 3 to 5 and included networking, educational sessions and speaking events.

Industry, Tourism and Investment Minister David Ramsay said his goals of attending the meeting and speaking to delegates were to highlight Northern on-shore and off-shore potential, increase publicity in American trade media, and "show that Canada is a key ally to the United States."

Stevens said he and Gruben brought back to their region more information on oil spill response, a major interest of some people on the hamlet council. The conference gave them access to current research, technology and important contacts for future consultation, he said.

The Canol oil shale field, located in the Mackenzie Valley, is the location of some major developments in coming years.

Ramsay said there are currently 13 leases on the shale oil field in the Mackenzie Valley with work commitments amounting to $634 million. In this winter alone, work expenditures in the region will reach more than $100 million, including a 40-km all-weather road constructed by Husky Energy using local contractors, he said.

The two key aspects to development in the region are training and infrastructure, said Ramsay.

"Industry and also the Norman Wells Land Corporation have been very active and proactive in getting their training to young people in the region so they can take advantage of the jobs that are there," he said.

On the topic of transportation infrastructure development, Ramsay added the GNWT received $1.2 million "to help enhance the winter road construction in the region" from Conoco Phillips Company, MGM Energy Corp. and Husky Energy.

"That's a really good sign of us working with industry to enhance transportation infrastructure," said Ramsay. "This is just a winter road but my belief is that if we continue to see the exploration and the advancement of the shale oil play that we will look at ... an all-weather road south from Norman Wells to Wrigley connecting it to the rest of the highway system here in the NWT."

Oil was first discovered in the area in 1921 and a pipeline owned by Enbridge was constructed from Norman Wells to Zama, Alta., in 1985.

The pipeline currently carries about 20 per cent of its design capacity but Ramsay said, if development continues, he wouldn't be surprised to see an interest by industry in the expansion of the pipeline or new pipeline projects.

"I know industry is after oil in the Sahtu but a byproduct of shale oil is large volumes of gas, natural gas liquids," Ramsay said. "That could bode well for us too as the development moves forward and hopefully it can get into commercial production here at some point in time."

Ramsay was joined by Robert Bouchard, MLA for Hay River North, Tim Coleman, director of planning and coordination for the Mackenzie Valley Petroleum Planning Office, and Ryan Strain, executive assistant to the minister.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.