Red tape ties up Mackenzie plan
Herald News Services
Published: Friday, July 25, 2008
As the Alaska pipeline clears political hurdles and marches forward, Canada's own multibillion-dollar plan to tap Arctic natural gas reserves in the Mackenzie Delta remains in regulatory limbo.
The fact wasn't lost on Northwest Territories industry minister Bob McLeod.
This week's developments around the Alaska line --the state's 40-member House of Representatives voted 24 to 16 Tuesday in favour of Bill 3001, which grants Calgary-based TransCanada Corp. an exclusive state licence to proceed with the project plus $500 million US worth of subsidies -- should add a sense of urgency for those involved with Canada's $16-billion Mackenzie Gas Project, McLeod said in an interview.
"Mackenzie is the biggest industrial project in Canada and I can't see the federal government letting it slip through our fingers with the Alaska project now seemingly getting off the ground," McLeod said from Vancouver.
It has long been felt the smaller project from the Mackenzie Delta in the Northwest Territories south to Alberta would die if Alaska was built first, as the delivery of so much natural gas from the Prudhoe Bay fields could soften North American natural gas prices enough to erode Mackenzie's economics.
Mackenzie, backed by a group led by Imperial Oil Ltd., is unlikely to be built before 2014-2016, while Alaska seems on track to be operating by 2019. The two startup dates could squeeze closer, however.
© The Calgary Herald 2008
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