Recent History – 2004-2006
January 18, 2006
CALGARY – The British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission has formally granted written approval for EnCana Corporation to proceed with construction of the Steeprock natural gas processing plant. The plant is being built to process natural gas produced by EnCana’s wells in the Bissette, Cutbank Ridge and Kelly Lake areas of B.C.
The new plant will be located approximately 50 kilometres south of Dawson Creek, and will have the capacity to process 198 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. The plant is projected to cost $60 million. It will not produce propane.
“The Steeprock Gas Plant is an important facility for the region, one that will enable EnCana to process our growing volumes of natural gas from northeast B.C. more efficiently. This investment in our ability to process B.C. natural gas in B.C. speaks to the significance of the Cutbank Ridge resource play,” said Mike McAllister, EnCana’s Vice-President of the Peace Country Business Unit. Site clearing and grading work at the Steeprock Gas Plant site is currently scheduled to begin in February and construction is anticipated to start in late February.
“Our team is very pleased to have received all of the surface and technical approvals required for the Steeprock Gas Plant and will now focus on the safe, efficient construction of the facility, with the goal of plant start-up and commissioning in October and the plant being on-line in November 2006,” said Rob Timmons, Steeprock’s project manager.
A number of local contractors have been invited to bid on the surface clearing and grading, mechanical, trucking and crane supply contracts, and EnCana is working to encourage Aboriginal participation in the supply of camp and catering services The Steeprock Gas Plant is expected to provide about 480 person-years of direct and indirect employment during the construction period and about 15 permanent jobs over the operating life of the plant.
In the last three years, EnCana has invested an average of C $1.2 billion per year in British Columbia and more than 40 percent of this average annual amount has been invested directly with British Columbia-based businesses.