Backers of a CAD 3 billion proposed pipeline to tap natural gas reserves in Canada’s frozen North expect to spend between CAD 200 million and CAD 250 million over the next three years to secure regulatory approval, a key step to competing with Alaska’s larger fields, a senior official with the project said.
Securing regulatory approval ahead of an Alaskan line under consideration will allow Canadian producers to use existing pipeline infrastructure and keep costs down, said K.C. Williams, senior vice-president of Imperial Oil Ltd, the country’s largest oil producer, refiner and marketer.
Imperial, majority owned by Exxon Mobil Corp., is spearheading efforts of the Mackenzie Valley Producers Group to build a line up the Mackenzie River Valley to connect reserves found almost 30 years ago underneath the barren tundra to southern consumers. The proposed line, running to NW Alberta from the Mackenzie Delta region of the Northwest Territories, would ship about 1 billion cubic feet of gas per day. Imperial’s partners are Shell Canada Ltd, Conoco Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corp.