Liard basin a reminder of Canada’s great energy potential A new estimate of the natural gas resource held in the Liard basin straddling the British Columbia, Yukon and Northwest Territories borders should be reason for celebration — with 219 trillion cubic feet of marketable natural gas, it’s one of the largest shale gas deposits available in the world.
In better times, such an eye-popping number would have triggered stock appreciation, pumped governments to invite development and promoted competition between corporate players eager to get in on the action.
But with the pile of nixed and challenged energy projects getting bigger, and natural gas prices languishing, the Liard’s supersized resource estimate mostly serves as a reminder that Canada has great resource potential — but don’t count on it any time soon.
The reasons behind the country’s struggles to turn resources into exports are consistent: regulatory delays, opposition from aboriginal and environmental organizations, climate change worries, political mishandling and, ultimately, changing market conditions.
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