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Imperial ‘excited’ about Mac
A change at the helm of Imperial Oil hasn’t changed the company’s view of the Mackenzie Gas Project.
If anything, newly installed Chief Executive Officer Bruce March sounds more enthusiastic than his predecessor Tim Hearn about plans to develop Canada’s Arctic natural gas resources, despite the pile of unresolved issues facing the C$16.2 billion project.
Taking the stage for the first time at Imperial’s annual meeting May 1, March said his company is “excited” about the MGP, regardless of assumptions that the cost estimates will get hiked again when all of the agreements are in place.
The MGP has also been hit with a delay in the startup date of three years to 2014, a slow-moving regulatory process, stalled decision making by the Canadian government on fiscal terms and no sign of a breakthrough in negotiations with the Deh Cho First Nations.
Focus on commercial aspects March said Imperial has done about all it can for now on access agreements with aboriginal communities along the pipeline route and on rights of way.
“What we really need is to develop commercial aspects of the project, get stakeholder support and buy-in, then start the regulatory process that we haven’t done yet,” he said.
Despite cuts in staffing and a slowdown in all aspects of the MGP, he said progress on the commercial front is “when you’ll see the resources come back to the project.”
March said a proposal made late last year to all stakeholders, including the Canadian government, for a commercially sound project does not require any “giveaways” from the government to any of the co-venturers.
—Gary Park
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