|
Aboriginal opposition threatens to derail Mackenzie Valley pipeline
Deh Cho demand land claims deal and revenue sharing in return for participation in project; Mackenzie Delta producers and Northwest Territories worried about delay Gary Park PNA Canadian Correspondent
The Deh Cho First Nations, representing 4,000 people in the southern Mackenzie Valley, may not decide until next summer whether to participate in a gas pipeline through their territory.
The prospect of a one-year delay is dismaying to Mackenzie Delta gas producers and political leaders who have repeatedly warned that unless the Delta is developed ahead of North Slope gas it could be shelved indefinitely.
The Deh Cho is the only one of six aboriginal regions in the Northwest Territories that has withheld its signature from a memorandum of understanding with the Mackenzie Delta Producers’ Group targeting one-third First Nations' ownership of a possible C$3 billion pipeline.
Its latest conditions for becoming a partner in the MOU are being reviewed by the producers' group and the Aboriginal Pipeline Group, which has obtained support from 75 percent of the population in the Mackenzie Valley.
Work under way delayed A spokesman for Imperial Oil, which serves as spokesman for the producers, was unable to say when the consortium would be able to decide whether to embark on the next phase of a feasibility study, but he said the Deh Cho stand will delay work now under way. He said the consortium — made up of Imperial 50 percent, Conoco Canada 25 percent, Shell Canada 17 percent and ExxonMobil Canada 8 percent — may not be able to proceed to a “project definition phase,” including the preparation of regulatory applications, which it had hoped to start by the end of 2001.
Deh Cho grand chief Mike Nadli said his community's top priority is to resolve land claims issues with the federal government, adding “there is still a lot of work to do.”
He said those negotiations involve, but are not limited to the terms and conditions of eventual pipeline construction.
An economic working group has been appointed by the Deh Cho to identify economic issues, immediate investment opportunities and other measures needed to develop resources in the area, with oil and gas being only one. The group is not scheduled to report back to the Deh Cho assembly until next summer.
Deh Cho set terms for pipeline support The emerging hard line was highlighted by Deh Cho assistant negotiator Herb Norwegian, who said “we need to hear from the producers and the multinationals out there that want to do business in the Deh Cho territory that it's a Deh Cho government they will do business with. We haven't heard that from anybody.”
A Deh Cho assembly in late August agreed it would only support a pipeline if:
• Oil and gas companies accept that the terms and conditions of a pipeline must be negotiated through a Deh Cho land claims process.
• Revenues and royalties from oil and gas development reserves are shared with the Deh Cho.
• A community impacts benefits agreement is in place before the project proceeds.
• The Deh Cho is a full participant in any environmental impact assessment.
Land claim a federal issue The Delta producers’ consortium, the Aboriginal Pipeline Group and the Northwest Territories government made clear their frustrations and concerns.
The Imperial spokesman said the Deh Cho demands were beyond the industry’s ability to negotiate and could only be resolved by the federal government.
He reiterated the producers’ position that a pipeline can’t be built unless it has the full backing of northern aboriginal groups.
Nellie Cournoyea, a former Northwest Territories premier and now co-chair of the Aboriginal Pipeline Group, said she was not surprised by the Deh Cho hard line, but remained confident the pipeline would proceed.
“One small group of people cannot decide the economic well-being of the majority of people in the Northwest Territories,” she told the Calgary Herald. “The reality is the Deh Cho need this pipeline more than any other group in the North.”
Cournoyea also indicated the Aboriginal Pipeline Group was developing a strategy to prevent the Deh Cho from slowing or killing a Mackenzie Valley pipeline, while conceding that only the federal government can negotiate a land claim.
Northwest Territories Energy Minister Joe Handley said he was disappointed that the Deh Cho leadership was trying to use the pipeline to accelerate land claims and self-government talks.
He urged the Deh Cho to reconsider its position, arguing that by holding out for a land claims settlement — which some estimate could take up to five years — the community could miss the chance to benefit from U.S. demand for new gas supplies.
| 