Bulk of $30M natural gas program at Dalhousie aimed at incentives for developers

A contract between the Nova Scotia government and Dalhousie University for an onshore natural gas program shows the majority of its $30-million budget is earmarked for incentives to potential developers.

The agreement was released this week by the Department of Energy, which committed to doing so following calls from the public last month. Although the deal was announced late last year, the department said the details were not finalized until now.

Included in the document is a breakdown of the program’s multimillion-dollar forecast. Salaries and benefits, operating costs and external consultants add up to about $1.7 million, while research gets $4 million and exploration incentives get a bit more than $24 million.

The contract says that if Dalhousie underspends in other categories, it should redirect the leftover money to exploration incentives.

A citizen group that’s concerned about the risks associated with onshore natural gas development says the contract demonstrates that research is not the priority.

“If you look at the money, you look at the balance of the money, it’s really about finding a way to get fracking on the ground and get it started here without really giving people a chance to publicly voice their concerns,” said Jonathan Langdon, a member of the Nova Scotia Fracking Resource and Action Coalition.

He noted that the contract says if there's “an insufficient number of proposals” following Dalhousie’s open call to exploration companies, the university is supposed to undertake a review and meet with industry representatives to find out why and rework the program.

“That really feels like this is more about trying to get people to come here to do this, as opposed to actually engaging in a process of asking questions about: is this the right thing to do?” he said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Energy said the budget is a reflection of exploration being more expensive than research.

“Without industry, we won't be able to conduct research,” they said in a statement. “That’s why we’ve allocated funding to encourage industry to participate in the program. The amount allocated for research is lower simply because we can leverage the expertise of Dalhousie and their partners to maximize the benefits to Nova Scotians.”

“Critics don't want any development or jobs associated with development so we are unsurprised by their statement,” the department said.

Langdon said a clause that gives the province exclusive ownership of all the information that’s “collected, created or produced by Dalhousie” adds to his concern that the program doesn’t have a “true research agenda.”

The contract says Dalhousie is supposed to have the incentive program developed by the end of this month. Starting in March it’s supposed to market the offering and open a call for proposals from exploration companies.

By the fall, the province wants companies doing exploratory drilling, and for their data to be shared with Dalhousie researchers who would in turn compile a report for the government at the end of this year.