Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Mr. Black's Refinery plan gets a positive review

The departing MLA for the North Coast may consider the idea a pie in the sky plan, but for some, the idea of an oil refinery near Kitimat makes quite a bit of sense.

At least those are the findings of a review from Navigant, which was commissioned by the province of British Columbia to review the plans and examine the prospects for success for the proposed venture for the Kitimat region.

The report from the California based consultants was released on March 14th and in it's conclusions were some words that no doubt brought comfort to David Black, who has proposed the massive Kitimat Clean project for the region.

Suggesting that there are long term economic benefits to a finished product model and that the prospect of serving a number of markets around the Pacific Rim, would be a key part of the proposal.

The prospect of an oil refinery in the Kitimat region has raised any number of concerns over the prospect of oil tankers plying the Douglas Channel and the North Coast, whether they are arriving for raw bitumen or finished product.

Beyond the environmental concerns, among the additional issues surrounding the project, the requirement of a pipeline to transit the bitumen from Alberta to British Columbia and the impact on First Nation territories along the path, much of which has been the domain of the current Joint Review Panel into the Enbridge pipeline proposal.

So we imagine that the consultant's document is going to just another piece of what it going to be a long running review of the subject.

Mr. Black would certainly seem bullish on the prospects, he recently told CTV News that he hopes for a Kitimat refinery deal within the next month.

For the would be Industrialist, the report commissioned by the provincial government is another helpful bit of information towards his cause. Whether all of it ever results in the project ever getting off the ground remains to be seen.

But for the moment, it certainly offers up much for discussion.

Vancouver Sun-- Made-In-B. C. refinery gets thumbs-up in consultant's report
Globe and Mail-- Northern Gateway refinery viable, B. C. commissioned report says
The Tyee-- Kitimat Refinery Project Demands Transparency
Business in Vancouver-- Give Black marks for greener oil option
Opinion 250-- Refinery Plan Worth Pursuing Says Report
Vancouver Sun-- B. C. Premier close to endorsing $25 billion oil refinery plan
Vancouver Observer-- David Black and 'Kitimat' Clean': funding secured for massive BC Oil refinery
The Tyee-- Premier Clark's position on BC refinery seems deluded
Business in Vancouver-- Kitimat could face sky-high pollution from B. C. energy boom

Some of our past items on the Kitimat proposal can be found here.

You can review the entire document from Navigant here,


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