British Columbia: LNG pipelines won't be converted to oil or bitumen

A proposed network of pipelines from natural gas fields in British Columbia’s northeast to LNG export plants in the northwest will not be permitted to pump oil and diluted bitumen, the provincial government says.

The Natural Gas Development Ministry said a new regulation prohibits the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission from allowing any conversion of a natural gas pipeline supplying an LNG facility.

But the Opposition New Democrats said the regulation is not tough enough. Stikine, B.C., New Democrat Doug Donaldson said yesterday that he wants legislation instead to guarantee oil and bitumen won’t end up in the proposed gas pipelines. He said that, in the spring, he intends to reintroduce his private member’s bill from last year in an effort to ban oil and bitumen from the pipelines.

The B.C. pipeline regulation currently applies to six proposed pipelines, including the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Project, which is slated to bring natural gas to the Petronas-backed Pacific Northwest LNG plant.

It also allows for the addition of more pipelines.

Some First Nations have said they are less concerned about the environmental risk associated with gas pipelines because if a leak occurs gas dissipates into the atmosphere even though the danger of an explosion remains.

Edited from various sources by Elizabeth Corner

Sources: The Globe and Mail, Calgary Herald

Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/07012015/british-columbia-lng-pipelines-wont-be-converted/