Mackenzie Gas Project mood on upswing on all sides
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Gary Park For Petroleum News
The key Canadian government and Imperial Oil leaders in the Mackenzie Gas Project are not even close to giving up on the scheme.
Environment Minister Jim Prentice said Oct. 14 the chances of a natural gas pipeline from Canada’s Arctic have “never been closer” to success — a view strongly endorsed the next day by Imperial Chief Executive Officer Bruce March.
Prentice told the Calgary Herald’s editorial board he is counting on the regulatory groundwork for the MGP to wrap up next spring.
March shares that view, saying the process is closer than ever to completion, although there is much work still to be done.
Despite an uncertain outlook for gas “those are the risks that all the developers and producers in the energy business know how to manage much easier than the risks” of the Joint Review Panel and other regulatory aspects of the MGP, he said.
“When we get to the point it is in our hands we will be thrilled,” he said.
Prentice said he is confident the JRP, which is examining the socioeconomic and environmental aspects of the pipeline, will deliver its final report close to the December target date.
Assuming that happens, the National Energy Board should hear its final arguments in April, allowing the regulators to deliver their conclusions and recommendations to the federal cabinet.
Several years late “As you know, (the JRP is) several years late,” Prentice conceded. “But my understanding is that they should be able to get this done by the end of December.
“It’s easy to be dismissive, but the truth is this has been a lot of work for many years and we’ve never been closer (in 40 years) to having the regulatory and environmental part finished.”
Meanwhile, Imperial and its co-venturers (Shell Canada, ConocoPhillips Canada, ExxonMobil Canada and the Aboriginal Pipeline Group) have been working on a fiscal framework with the Canadian government.
Prentice said those talks are upbeat, despite the slump in gas prices.
“I get the sense the proponents continue to be committed to the project,” he said.
Inuvik Mayor Derek Lindsay told the Calgary Herald that he was living in Inuvik when the first serious attempt to develop Arctic gas fell through in 1977.
“I don’t want to see that happen again,” he said. “It crippled this town for 10 years.”
If and when a pipeline gets a green light, there will be more activity in Inuvik and in the Beaufort Sea.
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