Report - Agence canadienne d'évaluation environnementale

Project energy context
As for Quebec, the energy strategy 2006-2015 specifies as a second objective the
diversification of its natural gas supply 1 . The strategy adds that: “construction of a new
LNG terminal in Quebec could be a useful way of reducing our dependency on our
only existing source of natural gas”. Recognizing the disadvantage of Quebec’s
dependence on WCSB as the only natural gas supply source, the strategy notes that:
In the case of natural gas, all our supplies come from Western Canada, via a
single transportation system – the network owned by TransCanada PipeLines.
The only gas reserves to which we have direct access appear to have reached
their peak, since known reserves have declined by 40% in 20 years. New
discoveries will respond primarily to needs deriving from the operation of oil sands
in Alberta. We must therefore diversify our supply sources in order to strengthen
our energy security in the longer term.
In a passage linking Quebec’s interest in reinforcing security of supply in hydrocarbons to
its geographical location, the strategy adds:
In its energy strategy, the Government applies a range of measures to diversify
and strengthen the security of our fossil fuel supplies, and to take full advantage
of Quebec’s geological potential and geographical location. Proposals for LNG
terminals could be of considerable interest to Quebec. The creation of new
terminals would help diversify our supplies and would have a very positive impact
on regional economies, due to the jobs created at the construction phase and the
spill-over effect on other industrial investments.
This interest in the security of Quebec’s natural gas supply is not new. In its 1996 policy,
Energy at the Service of Quebec, A Sustainable Development Perspective, the Quebec
government underscored the importance of being able to count on complementary
natural gas supplies (DA41.8).
In addition, the MRNF referred to similar orientations by the Quebec government that
go further back in time. Thus, before the recently confirmed decline in the traditional
Canadian sources of natural gas, the MRNF had recognized, in energy policy dating
back to 1978, the interest in building an LNG terminal in Quebec (DQ35.1, p. 3 and 4).
On this point, the ministry underscored the importance of having regasification
infrastructures on Quebec territory as a way to diversify supply sources and security.
Moreover, such infrastructures “have another important advantage for Quebec in that
they modify the end-of-the-line position that currently characterizes its natural gas
1. Gouvernement du Québec, Using Energy to Build the Quebec of Tomorrow: Quebec’s Energy Strategy 2006-
2015, Orientations and Priority Actions 2006, 138 p. [On-line: www.mrnf.gouv.qc.ca/publications/energie/
strategie/strategie-energetique-2006-2015.pdf].
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