Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was interested in seeing Mr. Kakfwi's statement this morning because I have worked on a similar statement and want to make it in that particular area. Over the past two months, I attended several resource sector conferences that focused on mineral, oil and gas development in the Northwest Territories. Because mining, oil and gas have tremendous potential for the North, it is crucial we understand the current and future opportunities these sectors offer.
Several new mines, including diamond, gold and base metals mines could be opened over the next ten years if prices recover to historical levels and government assistance is provided to encourage development. Plus, of course, we will have the value-added industries, such as the diamond sorting and cutting. In the oil and gas sector, the NWT has approximately 18 billion barrels of reserves identified. Alberta has 18 billion barrels identified of which three quarters have already been extracted and the east coast of Canada has five billion barrels. That means we have more than double the east coast in reserves alone and half of the drilling has not been done yet in the Territories.
Similarly with gas in the NWT, we have identified 175 trillion cubic feet. Alberta has 210 trillion cubic feet to which one third has already been extracted. The east coast has 75 trillion cubic feet.
We have more reserves identified than Alberta and the east coast combined. What does that mean for us here in the future in the Northwest Territories? Increased oil and gas exploration and production has the potential to create 1,000 to 1,500 jobs over the next 10 years. A total of 3,000 to 4,500 new jobs could be created by the mineral, oil and gas sector over the next ten years.
As a result of such stimulation, the oil and gas sector must be accorded the highest priority by this government in order to achieve significant economic growth and job creation. We must focus on resource development as the foundation for our wealth and job development in the future. Our priority must be on aboriginal and northern corporate capacity to facilitate infrastructure projects, to accelerate geoscience activities, to assist industry, and we must provide leadership in training education initiatives. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
--Applause