Pipeline dreams may die
Official warns North could miss out
Tue, May 31, 2005
By CP
edmontonsun.com
CALGARY -- Canada's North will end up missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity if efforts aren't made quickly to approve the Mackenzie natural gas pipeline, Alberta's top representative in Washington, D.C., said yesterday.
"Unless permitting and land access is put on a fast track, that line, in my opinion, is in real danger of not being built," Alberta trade representative Murray Smith warned in a speech to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.
"That would make Canada, Alberta, the Northwest Territories and the (aboriginal) peoples the poorer for the effort."
The Mackenzie line's timely development was thrown into doubt last month when the energy companies behind the $7-billion project - including Imperial Oil Ltd., Shell Canada Ltd., Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips - said they were suspending some preparatory work.
Imperial Oil (TSX:IMO) and its partners criticized the complexity of the regulatory process and the demands of aboriginal groups who want the energy companies to mitigate social problems in their communities.
Smith estimated there is a 60-day window of opportunity to salvage the project, warning that competition puts it at risk.
"I'm concerned that the gas supply will be supplied by emerging liquefied natural gas facilities being built both in Eastern Canada and the United States," said Smith.
"I think if you get much past the fall, LNG facilities are getting permitted and built, and on the other side of the world in Qatar and Saudi Arabia they're building plants that are going to ship three billion cubic feet a day," he said.
Construction of a $650-million liquefied natural gas terminal and regasification plant will begin this summer at Bear Head, near Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia.
Smith, appointed Alberta's representative in Washington five months ago, also touched on trade issues between Canada and the U.S., including softwood lumber and the border closure to Canadian beef because of BSE. Trying to use Canada's position as a key provider of oil and natural gas as a bargaining chip would be a serious mistake, he cautioned.
"We would not bring the U.S.A. to its knees," Smith said.
"Actually, we would potentially lose markets for a long period of time and be much poorer for the effort, as the U.S.A. would quickly find replacement product." |
