Mackenzie pipeline suffers a setback
CALGARY–A regulatory panel weighing a proposal for a $16.2 billion pipeline to ship gas from Canada’s Arctic will not complete its report for one year, further delaying the embattled project.
The Joint Review Panel, which is examining the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline, said it will release its report in December 2009, several months later than expected.
"We understand that there is tremendous interest in the panel’s findings, but we are required and committed to base our findings on a full and fair review of the evidence," Robert Hornal, chair of the panel, said in a statement.
The pipeline, slated to tap massive gas fields under the Mackenzie River Delta, was originally expected to be complete by 2011.
But the line has been stalled as its supporters look to cut ballooning costs and regulators repeatedly extend their deadlines for ruling on the project.
The panel’s report is needed before Canada’s National Energy Board can decide whether the project will proceed.
Imperial Oil Ltd., which is leading the five-company consortium looking to build the line, said it does not yet know what impact the delay will have on its plans online payday loans.
"It’s clearly a disappointment for us and for the project," said Pius Rolheiser, a spokesperson for Imperial.
"This is well beyond anything that we had expected … We’ll have to sit down and consider what this might mean."
Environment Minister Jim Prentice, who is overseeing the project, said earlier this week that he expected the Joint Review Panel to deliver its report no later than May 2009.
"I am disappointed to hear that that is the projected timeline … I’ve always acknowledged that the project is a complex one," he said yesterday.
Prentice said he nevertheless remains optimistic the pipeline will be built.
The line would ship gas some 1,200 kilometres along the Mackenzie River Valley to Alberta, where it would link with lines serving Canadian and U.S. markets.
Imperial’s partners in the pipeline project include Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips and the Aboriginal Pipeline Group.
Filed under: business by Specialist