Éric Duhaime reiterated his support for the Quebec LNG gas pipeline project, which he believes would help solve Europe’s energy crisis. But by the time the infrastructure is built and the contracts are signed, this crisis will already be resolved, an expert emphasizes.
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According to the Conservative leader, this natural gas liquefaction project would not only enable Quebec to be self-sufficient in energy, but it would also have environmental benefits, particularly because of the war in Ukraine.
He regrets that the project was abandoned last year. The government had argued it feared an irreversible increase in greenhouse gases in the countries to which the gas produced would be exported.
“It was a blatant lack of vision to drop the project a year ago. This is even more true today in the current international context,” Mr Duhaime told press representatives on Wednesday in La Baie.
Photo Gabriel Cote
“We see that Russian liquid gas no longer goes to Germany. And we see Germans opening up coal-fired power plants to try to heat their world in winter, 60% more polluting than natural gas.
“Quebec is not an island on earth. If efforts can be made to reduce greenhouse gases everywhere, we must contribute as much as we can,” agrees Sylvain Audette, HEC professor specializing in energy markets.
The expert believes that the solution to the energy crisis in Europe will probably not come from Canada.
“It is more reasonable to think that Europe will turn to Algeria or Qatar. It’s nice to produce gas and load it onto ships to cross the Atlantic, but the law of supply and demand means that the greater the distance, the higher the prices. Prices therefore become more attractive to Europeans when energy sources come from infrastructure closer to Europe,” he explains.
GABRIEL COTE/QMI AGENCY
Quebec’s potential contribution to solving the energy crisis in Europe would therefore be “minimal”, according to Mr. Audette, particularly given the time required to build the infrastructure.
“Although the infrastructure already exists in Canada, the Énergie Saguenay project would require the construction of the pipeline. It’s a ‘green field’, we’re starting from scratch, which makes the project very hypothetical.”
“The time for building up the infrastructure and signing the contract, we’re talking about two or three years, Germany will probably have found solutions to its problems by now,” emphasizes the professor.
The Conservative leader hinted that the exploration, exploitation and export of hydrocarbons would represent “multi-billion dollar offshoots in the state coffers,” but he is not precise as to when those offshoots would arrive. When asked about this, he admitted that it would probably not be possible to export natural gas to Europe for some time.
“We would be on the verge of being able to supply Europe” if the government had approved the project four years ago, stressed Éric Duhaime.
“It is certain that there will be a transition period of a few years,” he admitted. But profits would continue to grow year after year thereafter.”
GABRIEL COTE/QMI AGENCY
For Sylvain Audette, “It is not far-fetched to think that the exploitation of our hydrocarbons would allow the state to earn billions of dollars in the medium or long term”.
But these gains remain hypothetical. “Social acceptance is not very present in Quebec. After that we have to build infrastructures and we have to see to what extent the state has to get involved. Will the state give grants? Something like this has to be taken into account in the calculation,” the expert states.
The Conservative leader said he was “happy” to learn of Pierre Fitzgibbon’s openness to the realization of the LNG Quebec project. Radio-Canada announced Wednesday morning that the Quebec Secretary of Commerce’s office had taken informal steps with the federal government.
In that exchange, the cabinet would have indicated that there would be a will from Quebec to reconsider the project if the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) were re-elected on October 3rd.
Prime Minister Legault, meanwhile, closed the door on the natural gas liquefaction project during a news conference on Wednesday morning. “Nothing has changed, the door is closed,” he said, claiming that the Énergie Saguenay project is not benefiting from social acceptance.
For his part, Éric Duhaime confirms that the gas pipeline project enjoys good acceptance in the Saguenay region, although he admits that it is less popular across Quebec.
“The only way to say that there is no social acceptance is to consider what residents of the island of Montreal are saying (…). Social acceptance is not 500 km away, but in the community where the project is being carried out,” argued the Conservative leader.
“On October 3rd we think it will be a referendum [dans la région du Saguenay]. The question at the ballot box will be whether you are for or against the LNG project,” he said.