Canada’s ProGas Ltd. and RDO Foods Co., based in Grand Forks,ND, have withdrawn an application for a long-term natural gasexport license, according to Canada’s National Energy Board. TheNEB said yesterday that the application had been withdrawn July 18.

ProGas and RDO had applied for an eight-year license to beginNov. 1. The natural gas, which would have been exported throughEmerson, MB, would have fueled RDO’s potato processing plant inGrand Forks. Volumes were to be 300 MMcf daily; 519.7 MMcfannually; and 4.2 Bcf for the term of the contract. The natural gaswould have been supplied by producers in Alberta, British Columbiaand Saskatchewan that were contracted to ProGas.

In recent weeks, resistance has grown in Canada toward makingnew commitments to supply U.S. markets with natural gas (see DailyGPI, July 17). Conservation and consumer groups from Ontario,British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Alberta have asked the NEB toconduct public hearings into applications for long-term exportlicenses.

However, Ross Hicks, the board’s public affairs officer, saidthe ProGas application was not withdrawn because of publicprotests.

“In this case, I think it was a matter of low gas volumes,” hesaid yesterday of the ProGas plan to export natural gas to RDO. “Ithink ProGas thought that the volumes were too small to make thiswork. I think they’re going to try and go another way. It was not amatter of interventions or public comments. That had nothing to dowith it.”

Regarding public protest about other natural gas exportapplications, Hicks said the NEB has “a lot of them” coming up, andso far, none of the companies involved have caved in to publicsentiments to withdraw their applications.

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