|  |
Mackenzie Gas Project proponents and GNWT sign comprehensive Socio-Economic
Agreement
| Calgary, AB,
January 22, 2007
|
Imperial Oil Resources Ventures Limited, on behalf of the Mackenzie Gas
Project co-venturers, announced today that the project coventurers have signed
a comprehensive Socio-Economic Agreement (SEA) with the Government of the
Northwest Territories.
The agreement outlines a broad range
of socio-economic topics, with agreement between the parties in a number of
specific areas related to the proposed project. These areas include training
and employment, business opportunities, wellbeing, sustainable development,
net effects on government, and ongoing monitoring of the proposed project,
both during construction and operation. The agreement outlines commitments in
specific areas including employment requirements and policies, hiring and
procurement priorities for NWT and Aboriginal people, oil and gas training,
transportation and infrastructure impacts, cultural preservation, safety and
security, access to gas, and a monitoring advisory board (society) for the
life of the project.
"This agreement is a significant step
forward in the project's progress," said Randy Broiles, senior vice-president,
Imperial Oil Limited, on behalf of the coventurers. "It defines the key areas
of agreement and commitment between the project proponents and the government
of the Northwest Territories, and establishes a foundation for moving forward
together. More importantly, this agreement outlines our shared belief that
the Mackenzie project has the potential to provide significant benefits to all
stakeholders, in particular the people and communities of the North."
The agreement builds on the proponents' Environmental Impact Statement and
incorporates input received from several years of consultation, community
discussion and workshops. Now that the agreement has been signed and
executed, details of the specific terms will be filed with the Joint Review
Panel, which is currently conducting public hearings into the proponents'
regulatory applications.
The Mackenzie Gas Project is being proposed by Imperial, ConocoPhillips
Canada, Shell Canada, ExxonMobil Canada and the Aboriginal Pipeline Group
(APG). The APG was formed in 2000 to represent the ownership interest of the
Aboriginal peoples of the Northwest Territories in the proposed Mackenzie
Valley natural-gas pipeline.
The project would include the
development of an estimated six trillion cubic feet of natural gas resource in
the three largest onshore fields discovered in the Mackenzie Delta and
construction of associated pipelines and facilities. The project includes
three anchor field developments, gas and natural-gas liquids gathering system
pipelines and related facilities, and the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline with
an initial design capacity of 1.2 billion cubic feet per day, and expandable
to accommodate gas from other fields in the future.
|
| |  |
|
