Seeking deals, not war in B.C., Alberta

Gary Park

For Petroleum News

A spat between British Columbia and Alberta is turning more civil than warlike.

Rather than continuing to snipe at each other, the two premiers — Alberta’s Alison Redford and British Columbia’s Christy Clark — have decided to work on what is achievable and on what will benefit both provinces.

However, in the process of taking small, real steps they are also getting drawn into one of their deepest disagreements.

In some sideline discussions at the annual conference of Canada’s 10 provincial and three territorial premiers July 24-26, Redford and Clark launched a joint plan to expand exports of oil, natural gas and other resources.

They have instructed deputy ministers and other senior energy officials to start working on policies to promote exports and allow their fossil-fuel sectors to open the door to new markets in Asia.

But, left unresolved, was exactly how the resources will be shipped to the Pacific Coast, which leaves for another day decisions on projects such as Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline and Kinder Morgan’s plan to expand its Trans Mountain system and on how they will resolve their previous feuding over how British Columbia will get its “fair share” of the economic benefits from exports of Alberta’s oil sands crude.

The only hint of a solution has come from British Columbia officials, speaking off the record, who suggest there could be a toll on the pipeline companies or perhaps a tax on bitumen if a proposed refinery is built in Kitimat.

“I don’t know the answer to that, but I wouldn’t accept that it’s necessarily the toughest condition to meet,” Clark told reporters.

“There’s a lot of revenue that’s going to flow from the new incremental value from exporting heavy oil. So, I don’t know that that’s the hardest one.”

Redford said the discussions are just at a preliminary stage — some government sources believe they will take at least months, possibly longer, to produce an agreement — but she indicated the talks could go beyond Northern Gateway.

“Right across Canada, but particularly in Alberta and British Columbia, we’re seeing a number of people who are really coming to terms with the fact that responsible resource development is what’s going to allow us to have economic growth in Canada,” Redford said.

Clark said British Columbia understands “how important it is that resources get to the coast.”

“We’re getting our natural gas to the coast and off to Asia (as LNG), hopefully selling it at a much higher price.

“And Alberta understands that social license is something that’s important for moving resources, so we’re going to work through some of those details together,” she said.