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Latest Headlines
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Dec 15, 2009 3:27:00 PM MST
NWT energy minister expects Mackenzie pipeline report to be released Dec. 31 (NWT-Mackenzie)
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CALGARY _ A panel examining the social and environmental effects of a delayed Arctic natural gas pipeline is expected to finish its work by the end of the year.
The Northwest Territories cabinet minister who oversees energy development said he´s been told the long-awaited report on the Mackenzie Gas Project will be ready on Dec. 31.
"I think that the report will come out at the end of the month, and my expectation is that it will be a positive report," Bob McLeod said in an interview Tuesday.
McLeod was in Calgary this week to impress upon the energy industry the importance of the $16.2-billion pipeline coming to fruition.
"It´s still a high priority for our government and we want to make sure that everybody in Canada and particularly in Ottawa understands that this Mackenzie pipeline project is in the national interest," McLeod said.
"And it´s also important for everybody to understand that the benefits of the pipeline extend far beyond the Northwest Territories, that the main beneficiaries would be Ontario, Quebec and Alberta."
When the Joint Review Panel was appointed by the federal government in August 2004, the process was supposed to take 10 months.
After a series of delays, the panel said a year ago that the long-awaited report would finally be done in December 2009.
Environment Minister Jim Prentice, Ottawa´s point-man on Mackenzie, announced in January that the federal government was willing to give some financial support to the pipeline.
The fiscal arrangement probably won´t be complete before the JRP releases its report, as McLeod said he would have preferred.
He said it´s important to have it done before the National Energy Board begins its hearings begin in April.
The group of companies backing the pipeline, led by Imperial Oil Ltd. (TSX:IMO), have assured McLeod that they´re still committed to the undertaking, even though its economic viability has been called into question.
Cheaper and more plentiful natural gas resources, that were previously too difficult to access, are being exploited throughout North America.
And Mackenzie faces the prospect of being overshadowed by a much larger pipeline proposed for Alaska, and increasing volumes of liquefied natural gas being imported to North America by ship.
"All of our projections indicate that even with shale gas, LNG, the demand for energy is growing so that both the Alaska pipeline and the Mackenzie pipeline are needed," he said.
In addition to Imperial Oil, the Mackenzie partnership also includes ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM), ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE:RDS) and the Aboriginal Pipeline Group, which acts on behalf of aboriginal groups along the pipeline´s corridor.
Pipeline giant TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP) is involved through its investment in the APG.
The 1,220-kilometre pipeline, if completed, will stretch from gas fields along the Mackenzie Delta south to the Alberta border, where it will connect with TransCanada´s network.
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