Seems LNG is on everybody’s mind these days.

The subject of liquefied natural gas and its potential use and distribution through the Yukon was noted on the opening morning of this week’s Opportunities North Conference titled Pushing Boundaries in Whitehorse.

Mining executives explained how they are actively exploring the use of natural gas as a cleaner and less expensive alternative to diesel fuel for powering generators at their remote mine sites, should their projects proceed.

Yukon Energy vice-president Michael Brandt said the publicly owned utility sees the use of natural gas to displace diesel as a made-in-Yukon solution to create an energy profile that fits the needs of the North.

And the Crown corporation is doing its part by helping to establish the supply chain for LNG with its new $40 million back-up generating plant, Brandt told the audience.

Pushing boundaries, said Brandt, is the same as facing challenges.

“How do we move these boundaries in the Yukon to create the energy profile that we want?” he asked.

Brandt said once the business case for LNG is firmly in place, things will just get better.

The Crown corporation is in discussions with B.C. and Alaska to build the supply chain, he told the audience.

“We are still working on a bulk haul permit for larger trucks to bring LNG north.”

Andrew Hall, Yukon Energy’s new president, said optimizing the provision of energy requires searching for synergies. The potential partnerships around LNG are key these days, he suggested.

Liquefied natural gas, Hall pointed out, is already moving north through the Yukon to the Northwest Territories.

Hall said the business case for LNG is indeed compelling.

Conference moderator Darielle Talarico told the audience the question is how do Yukoners go about taking responsibility for their oil and gas resources, and how do they go about taking responsibility for their whole energy mix?

The conversation, however, is currently dominated by the anti-hydraulic fracturing movement, and not how to take charge of the territory’s energy future, she said.

“I know there are a lot of people who want to have this conversation but find it difficult to have it in the Yukon.”

The audience also heard from three top executives of advanced mining projects in the Yukon, all of whom are looking to natural gas for power generation.

President Paul West-Sells of the Casino Mining Corp. said the company’s Casino project – which would be the largest open pit in the Yukon’s history, and would dwarf the former Faro mine – is looking to LNG.

Not only is it examining natural gas for power generation, but it’s also fixed on the idea of using it to fuel all the trucks and heavy equipment required for the project, he told the audience.

Vice-president Maurice Albert of Selwyn Chihong Mining said his company is also looking to import LNG for its Howard’s Pass project on the Yukon-N.W.T. border, north of Cantung.

Howard’s Pass, he said, will require 100 megawatts of generation. (The total capacity at the Whitehorse Rapids Dam is 80 MW – 40 hydro, 40 diesel generation.)

Northern Cross CEO David Thompson told the audience the company’s oil and gas leases in northern Yukon have the potential to supply the energy market in the Yukon with both oil and natural gas.

Thought is even being given to combining the two products to make a hybrid fuel, he said.

Thompson said it is a rare opportunity to have the ability to develop a local oil and gas industry, an opportunity that brings great benefits.

The Yukon currently spends $200 million a year importing fuel, he pointed out.

He said over the last three years, Northern Cross has invested $100 million on its exploration program on Eagle Plain, including the first-ever 3D seismic program in the territory.

The exploration program, Thompson said, has put Northern Cross in a position to refine its search for the conventional oil and gas resources in northern Yukon.

“We know that all these wells are not going to be successful,” he said. “It’s a risky business.

“But we think we can zero in on the high-potential areas with the work we have done.... I think the local resources here can be part of the supply chain.”

See related conference coverage and more in Friday’s edition.