The B.C. government today released Review of the Proposed
Kitimat Refinery Project: Technical Assessment and Asian
Supply/Demand Analysis. This report was prepared for the Ministry of
Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training, in consultation with the Ministry
of Energy, Mines and Natural Gas.
On August 17, 2012, David Black unveiled a $13 billion proposal to
build a refinery on British Columbia's North Coast.
To assist the provincial government with its appraisal of this
proposed refinery, Navigant Consulting was retained to consider the
following aspects of the project:
* Prepare a technical review, including an estimate of the likely
economic performance of the refinery.
* Compile an assessment of the Asian fuel supply/demand balance and
whether the output from Kitimat could be sold profitably to customers
in four Asian countries - namely, China, India, South Korea and
Japan.
As expressed in its report, Navigant has found that building a
refinery on the coast of British Columbia has economic merit and
should be seriously considered by the government of British Columbia.
The report finds that such a refinery would provide incremental long-
term economic benefits to the region.
On March 7, Premier Christy Clark delivered a statement to the B.C.
legislature where she committed the government's support to move this
proposal forward where it can be judged on its merits by a robust,
rigorous and independent environmental process, free from political
influence. "This is a credible proposal from a credible B.C.
businessman. And without question, this would be the largest single
private-sector investment in the history of our great province. And
it would be, potentially, a tremendous game-changer for our children
and their children," said the Premier.
The government of British Columbia has continued to advance its work
on the five conditions for heavy oil pipelines. Announced last July,
these five conditions will ensure the highest standards for
environmental protection and First Nations involvement.
Since their release, government has taken strong and decisive action
to develop world-leading practices for all land-based spill
prevention and response by releasing a policy development discussion
paper that is supporting comprehensive stakeholder engagement.
Recently, the B.C. government proactively took the first step toward
defining a world-leading, marine-based spill response model to
protect B.C.'s vast 27,000-kilometre coastline. The Ministry of
Environment contracted with Alaska-based Nuka Research and Planning
Group to review, evaluate and prepare a report on the current marine
oil spill prevention, preparedness and response regime for coastal
British Columbia to identify changes needed to support a world-class
system.
The paper released today advances British Columbia's knowledge of and
position as a safe and reliable jurisdiction for potential
manufacturing and shipment of heavy oil.