NorthRiver outlines expansion plans

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. – NorthRiver Midstream appeared at the Peace River Regional District’s October 7th board meeting, providing an overview on four expansion projects in the North and South Peace.

The Aitken Creek, McMahon, Tupper West, and the Northeast B.C. connector are all slated for additional development. Supporting the community is a priority, says Land Manager Rod Locke, who presented the updates alongside Director of Operations Andrew Benjamin, noting they always aim to hire local and indigenous contractors.

“Day to day we’re actively evaluating our opportunities to transform NorthRiver into an energy company of the future,” said Locke, noting while the company is new, their assets have been around for 65 years.

At Aitken Creek, the company has proposed six new pipelines, with segments shipping natural gas liquids, condensate, and sour raw gas.

“It’s really about maximizing the value of our existing footprint. It’s up near the Wonowon area, and this project will interconnect them to provide more value to us and our customers that are connected,” said Benjamin, noting the goal to modernize their facilities.

The project is already underway and slated to finish by July 2022, employing 55 people at the facility, and 60 on the pipeline when construction begins in February.

A sequestration project has also begun at McMahon, but is in the early stages, with decisions yet to be made.

“We’re actively looking at the merit of it and we think there’s a really good opportunity here. This one is really about modernizing our existing facility with newer technologies that we have deployed in a lot of our other facilities,” said Benjamin.

Lowering emissions and improving air quality in Taylor and the surrounding areas is a key focus of the project, he added.  Once completed, 122,000 tonnes of CO2 and 1,500 tonnes of SO2 would be captured, reducing sour gas flaring and CO2 venting.

The Northeast B.C. Connector also remains in the works, with 215 kilometres of pipeline stretching from Wonowon to Gordondale, Alberta, connecting oil and gas sites across the Peace.

“For the most part this project parallels existing infrastructure, so right around 90 per cent is paralleling existing right of ways,” said Locke, noting the project is pending regulatory approval, with construction expected to begin in 2023. $15 million has been directly invested in the connector for operating expenses, with 65 permanent jobs to be created.

A third site is planned for Tupper West operations, dubbed Tupper West III, located south of Arras, with 25 kilometres of pipeline added to service sweet sales gas.