Associate Minister of Natural Gas Dale Nally will depart Friday as he embarks on an eight-day trip to Asia to promote Alberta’s energy resources.
“As part of our plan to revitalize Alberta’s natural gas sector, I’m meeting with investors and government officials to share with them that Alberta is open for business,” Nally said in a news release.
“We are a place they can turn to as a source of clean, secure, and ethically produced natural gas.”
Nally will first stop in Tokyo where he will make opening remarks at a reception dinner for the GZERO Summit. The UCP MLA’s itinerary says while in Japan, he will attend the summit and also meet with investors and energy companies, the Canadian ambassador to Japan and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan.
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On Wednesday, Nally will fly to Seoul. While in South Korea, he is expected to meet with the Canadian ambassador to South Korea as well as with energy companies.
In both Japan and South Korea, Nally will also tour LNG facilities.
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The Alberta government said the trip is extimated to cost about $31,000 which will cover “economy class airfare, meals and ground transportation for the associate minister, his chief of staff, and associate deputy minister.”
This summer, the provincial government announced it would provide help for struggling natural gas producers in rural Alberta in the form of property tax relief. The government said municipal tax rates on shallow gas wells and pipelines would be reduced by 35 per cent.
READ MORE: Alberta natural gas producers getting tax relief
At the time, the government said about 65,000 wells would qualify for tax relief.
“Our government is committed to protecting Alberta’s natural gas industry, and this measure is a tangible solution,” Nally said at the time.
Last month, two major companies, with support from the provincial government, launched a new pipeline that supplies natural gas to two of the province’s biggest power plants, allowing them to move away from coal as a fuel source.
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“There are so many wins for our province in this $200-million project that it’s hard to know where to begin,” Premier Jason Kenney said at the time. “Obviously, the creation of 11,000 construction jobs at its peak was a big win for all Albertans who worked on this Pioneer Pipeline.”
–With files from Global News’ Tom Vernon and Chris Chacon
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