AltaGas said it will build a $450 million propane export terminal on Ridley Island near Prince Rupert, the first such facility on Canada’s Pacific coast. The decision was announced January 3.
Half of the 1.2 million annual tonnes of propane will be sourced from AltaGas’s Townsend facility north of Fort St. John, which the company is upgrading.
The Ridley Island facility will be just 10 days from Asian markets, compared to 25 days from competing facilities on the U.S. Gulf Coast. AltaGas operates a similar propane export facility in Ferndale, Washington.
While the terminal will provide an outlet for Northeast B.C. propane, Energy Services BC executive director Art Jarvis said it was too early to say what impact the facility will have on the region.
“It’ll be all about price, wherever they can buy that propane the cheapest,” said Jarvis, whose organization represents energy industry contractors in northeast B.C.
