Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you very much to the members of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources and panellists. The City of Saint John is very grateful for this opportunity today. These remarks will include four points: the Saint John context, the energy sector broadly, the energy east pipeline, and natural gas.
Saint John was incorporated in 1785 via royal charter. It was the first city in our country to be incorporated, and from its founding, industry has formed the economic backbone of Saint John beginning with the timber trade and shipbuilding.
Following World War II, a variety of large-scale industrial enterprises emerged and in 1960 a new industry came to our city, oil refining. The refinery has become the largest in Canada. It has formed the basis for the city's reputation as an energy hub. The energy sector is key to growing the economy in Saint John. Our premier, David Alward, has called Saint John the economic turbine of the province.
As to the energy sector broadly, the energy sector as a whole has a tremendous impact on the Saint John economy. For the last several decades, the City of Saint John has played an increasingly important role in regional, North American, and international energy markets. Saint John is a proud home to Canada's largest oil refinery, the first deepwater crude terminal in the western hemisphere, Canada's first and only liquefied natural gas terminal, and one of the world's first refurbished CANDU 6 nuclear reactors.
The region serves as an increasingly important and diverse energy gateway including links to eastern Canada, New England, the Atlantic basin, and beyond. Our city supported in excess of $10 billion in energy exports in 2012, accounting for approximately two-thirds of the province of New Brunswick's entire export portfolio. The city's commitment to energy remains strong and was recently reinforced through the release of our region's renewed economic development strategy, True Growth 2.0.
As for the energy east pipeline, the City of Saint John is working closely with private sector partners, the City of Calgary, as well as federal and provincial counterparts to support the development of the energy east pipeline and Irving Oil and TransCanada's joint venture to develop and construct a new Canaport energy east marine terminal at the Irving Canaport deepwater marine facility in Saint John.
As many of the members of this panel will know, the energy east pipeline is expected to carry up to 1.1 million barrels of crude oil per day through 4,500 kilometres of pipeline from Alberta and Saskatchewan refineries to eastern Canada and a state-of-the-art marine export terminal in Saint John. The energy east project is estimated to cost $12 billion to complete and will generate over $25 billion in GDP for the Canadian economy over its 40-year operational life. Additional benefits may accrue to the Saint John region through a multibillion-dollar investment in value-added bitumen upgrading and refining investments once the pipeline is completed.
The Irving oil refinery in Saint John is a strong competitor in regional markets. It has a capacity to produce 300,000 barrels of finished petroleum products per day, accounting for 64% of Canada's refined petroleum exports to the United States. Our region's traditional focus on energy is being expanded to capitalize on emerging energy sources including natural gas, clean energy technologies, energy efficiency, and energy literacy and education.
The sector has created many innovative spinoffs including the University of New Brunswick's new energy certificate program offered by Saint John College, and industry partnerships with the Saint John fire department that allow the department to provide expertise and training to enable them to better respond to incidents across the city and to generate revenue through training programs.
The Saint John region remains a focal point within the international northeast region for value-added hydrocarbon processing, electricity generation, head office and back office-related operations, energy transmission, and energy innovation efficiency and conservation.
We are New Brunswick's only city with a vibrant industrial and port capacity combined with a diverse and robust energy knowledge sector. We have proven that we have the social licence for major energy projects, which provides an additional and powerful competitive advantage.
As for natural gas, New Brunswick's existing natural gas reserves are estimated to be in the range of 80 trillion cubic feet, based on current exploration and development activities in southern New Brunswick. These reserves are recognized as economically significant from a North American perspective and may become even more significant based on the outcome of ongoing shale gas exploration.
The development of these resources has also provided the potential to support new value-added energy investments in Saint John, including the potential conversion of Canaport LNG to an export terminal, and investment in new petrochemical and fertilizer production operations.
Recently Saint John Common Council unanimously endorsed a resolution supporting responsible development of natural gas exploration, and it is taking a proactive approach to support the development of New Brunswick's significant natural gas resources and energy assets.
Saint John council has submitted a letter of intent expressing the city's interest in pursuing membership in the World Energy Cities Partnership. The economic health of our region is a top priority for Saint John Common Council. The energy sector, and particularly oil and gas, is vital to Saint John. We have benefited from it greatly, and we fully support its further development. There is much appreciation for this committee's important conversation on the economic future of not only the country but particularly Saint John, in this case.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.