|
When Devon Canada spent several million dollars to drill a natural gas well on the Eagle Plain last winter, rooms were filled around the clock and fuel purchases reached record levels at the local hotel. Related economic impacts were also welcomed in Dawson City and other Yukon communities.
Call it a little taste of what the future might bring.
As the estimated $20 billion US Alaska Highway Pipeline Project and $8 billion Cnd Mackenzie Gas Project move forward, the benefits to the Yukon economy could make a drilling program look like a drop in the proverbial bucket.
Understandably, the Yukon business community is most excited about the economic spin-offs related to the larger and longer Alaska Highway pipeline, which would transport up to 5.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from Alaska’s North Slope to southern markets via an 760-kilometre right-of-way through the Yukon. An anticipated 30 per cent average rise in Yukon’s economic output during the construction and operation period would create new opportunities in almost every business sector, from accommodations to transportation. According to a 2002 Informetrica study, this would generate an estimated 7,000 Yukon jobs in the peak year of construction, including more than 1,000 direct construction jobs for locals. Of course, Yukoners would also benefit from related education and training for skilled occupations required for the project.
“In the short term, the major beneficiaries would be contractors, big and small,” Yukon Chamber of Commerce chair Rob Harvey suggests. “The need for massive amounts of equipment, hauling capabilities, logistical support, expediting, camps, environmental engineering, civil engineering, geotechnical assessments—I think those would be the main ‘hit lists.’”
Switching hats, Harvey acknowledges that his own firm, Yukon Engineering Services, would be among the local companies poised to capitalize on the opportunities.
“There would be lots of survey work, lots of engineering work,” he says. “Even though we couldn’t scale up to handle all of it, I would imagine that we would be wise to double or triple in size to accommodate the opportunities.”
Harvey believes that Yukon companies would be wise to establish partnerships with one another or specialized outside contractors to bid on work during a construction period of less than five years.
“It would be unrealistic, for example, for any Yukon contractors or engineering firms to scale up in an attempt to handle a major portion of this project on their own, for such a short duration,” he says. “The better you’re partnered, the better your opportunities are going to be.”
|
As for suggestions that the Yukon will lose out on desired short-term benefits if the Mackenzie Gas Project precedes and forestalls the Alaska Highway pipeline, Harvey offers another perspective.
“There’s a real capacity issue in all of Western Canada for large projects, so any business that plans accordingly can get involved and benefit from one of these projects,” he says. “I don’t think it’s just cagey politics on the part of the Yukon government to say ‘both projects are going to happen and Yukoners will benefit from either project.’ It’s just realism.”
Nonetheless, the Yukon government will ensure the territory’s economic interests with respect to the Mackenzie gas Project are protected during upcoming regulatory proceedings. It has also completed an agreement with the Northwest Territories government to work cooperatively on training, labour and business opportunities related to oil and gas developments.
“I think there’s quite a bit more of a personal relationship between the premiers of the NWT and the Yukon than there used to be, and they have brought in some things that have been positive for Yukon business,” says David Jamieson.
He ought to know. His long-time Yukon company, Midnight Sun Drilling, has spent the last three winters as the prime geotechnical contractor on the design study for the proposed 1,300-kilometre Mackenzie Valley pipeline.
“We’d like to think we’re going to continue, so it would generate a lot of work out of here, plus the regions along the pipeline,” he adds. “And a very similar benefit would happen with the Alaska Highway pipeline.”
But as Harvey points out, the combined long-term benefits of these two projects are what the Yukon business community really desires. For example, both pipelines will stimulate the development of Yukon’s own natural gas resources, especially in North Yukon, while access to gas from an Alaska Highway pipeline could provide Yukon with clean, affordable energy to encourage new industrial activity. As a result, long-term employment in the Yukon could rise by between 1,000 and 2,000 jobs per year, according to the 2002 Informetrica study.
“I think you’ll see more economic independence for the Yukon,” Harvey concludes. “We could actually turn into a ‘have’ jurisdiction instead of a ‘have not.’ It could be the beginning of great things for Yukoners.”
|
Last Updated 30-01-2006
