Nunavut not on Arctic gas agenda

SARA MINOGUE

Oil and gas industry leaders met in Calgary earlier this week for the fifth annual Arctic Gas Symposium, but Nunavut was not on the agenda.

Nunavut is home to two huge natural gas deposits near Melville Island. The deposits were discovered in the 1970s.

A pilot project almost got underway in the early 1980s, but was abandoned when demand for natural gas waned. Over the last 20 years the deposits have been viewed as too expensive to exploit.

Today, the demand for natural gas — particularly gas found in North America — is growing and is expected to keep growing.

Earlier this year, the Canadian Energy Research Institute released a new study on the economics of tapping into these deposits. That research was sponsored by the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs and the Government of Nunavut.

The study found that a company could earn more than a 15 per cent rate of return, in spite of the vast distances and high risk of Arctic shipping.

Wesley Gee, who produced the conference for the Canadian Institute in Ottawa, said that he found little interest in Nunavut while he was doing research for the conference.

However, Nunavut’s large gas deposits were mentioned several times in the context of supply and demand.

Discussions focused on the North Slope of Alaska, the Mackenzie Valley Corridor, the Mackenzie Delta/Beaufort Sea areas, where developments are already underway.

Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie, Northwest Territories Premier Joseph Handley and Frank Murkowski, Governor of Alaska, all spoke at the conference.