Mackenzie costs likely next month

The updated price tag on the Mackenzie Project will likely be disclosed in November, consistent with a promise to release the figure in the final quarter, Imperial Oil Chief Executive Officer Tim Hearn said Oct. 11.

He told reporters in Calgary that Imperial and its partners are committed to making the project happen, “but time will tell whether it will go or not.”

The latest cost estimate was C$7.5 billion, a figure that has since been overtaken by the cost inflation that is rampant in the Canadian oil and gas industry.

Some analysts have set new targets as high as C$10 billion, but Imperial has refused to speculate until it completes a re-evaluation.

The start-up date for a possible 1.2 billion cubic-feet-per-day of shipments from the Mackenzie Delta is also facing a delay of up to one year to 2012 because of extended deadlines for regulatory hearings. In the meantime, Imperial has postponed talks with the Canadian government on fiscal terms for the project.

—Gary Park