Report - Agence canadienne d'évaluation environnementale

Economic context of the project
Cascades Inc. in turn recalled the harmful impacts from the environmental standpoint
of having to use No. 6 fuel oil because of the natural gas prices. Cascade also
mentioned that it pays the highest prices on the continent to cover natural gas
transportation costs, since its Quebec facilities are at the eastern end of the natural
gas distribution network (DM574).
Moreover, certain Quebec companies located at the end of the network have already
experienced supply interruptions during winter demand peak periods (Mr. Martin
Chouinard, DT30, p. 78). Other natural gas supply sources could have the advantage
of countering this problem by stabilizing supply to industrial companies in Quebec.
Impact of the project on the Quebec and Ontario markets
Based on a nominal capacity of 5,183 Mm 3 , the contribution of the project would
correspond to 82 percent of total natural gas demand in Quebec (6.2 Mm 3 in 2004),
and about 20 percent of Ontario’s demand. On the scale of the North American
market, the contribution of the project would however be only 0.75 percent of demand.
The project would also have the effect of multiplying by 8.35 the current natural gas
storage capacity in Quebec, increasing it from 2 percent to more than 16 percent of
annual consumption. That would have the advantage of ensuring the availability of
more reserves during peak demand periods. It should be noted that the current
storage capacity in Ontario is 6,844.4 Mm 3 , which corresponds to 21 percent of that
province’s annual consumption (PR3.2, Appendix G, p. 20; DB78, p. 179).
According to a MRNF representative, access to a new natural gas source would
represent an advantage for Quebec consumers who are now at the eastern end of the
Canadian natural gas transportation network. He estimated that transportation fees
would be less in Quebec than in Ontario (Mr. Ronald Richard, DT12, p. 31).
According to a study commissioned by the proponent, , the project would have the
effect of lowering gas prices by about 5.4 percent on the eastern Ontario and Quebec
markets due its additional supply of natural gas for the 2010 to 2025 period. . This
price reduction would be due as much to the proximity of the facilities as to the
additional volume available on these markets. According to project supporters, this
type of reinforcement of supply means a competitive drop in price of the order of $0.46
per million BTUs 1 .
♦ Opinion 4 — The Panel is of the opinion that the additional supply of natural gas
proposed by the project could result in a relative reduction in price on the Quebec market.
1. 1 million BTUs is a quantity of energy equivalent to about 28 m 3 of natural gas.
86 Rabaska Project – Implementation of an LNG Terminal and Related Infrastructure