Pessimistic: TransCanada pipeline
Pessimism looms over Mackenzie line
Regulatory delays have worsened the odds that the C$16.2 billion (US$13 billion) Mackenzie gas pipeline in Canada's far north will ever be built despite a promise of help from Ottawa, TransCanada chief executive said.
TransCanada boss Hal Kvisle said he is frustrated that the pipeline, which would carry gas to Canadian and US markets from the Mackenzie Delta on the Beaufort Sea coast, still does not have clearance to go ahead after years of planning and rising costs.
"I confess to some pessimism on the Mackenzie project, and it may well not proceed," Kvisle said at an industry conference in Houston.
TransCanada has no current stake in the pipeline, but can acquire 5% through its commitment to fund the native-owned Aboriginal Pipeline Group, which aims to control a third of the project, which was first discussed in the 1970s, said a Reuters report.
In January, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government offered financial support for the proposal, which is led by Imperial Oil.
The aid would be in the form of money for roads and airstrips, as well as pre-construction expenses.
"I have great sympathy for the current government of Canada, which is doing everything it can to move the project forward," Kvisle said. "But it inherited a mess that's been building up for a couple of decades."
The latest setback was in December, when one of two regulatory panels said it expected to deliver its report into the project late this year, months later than expected.
The 1220-kilometres (760-mile) Mackenzie pipeline would ship up to 1.9 billion cubic feet of gas per day through the Northwest Territories to Alberta, where it could be routed on existing pipelines to markets throughout Canada and much of the US.
The other project partners are, Anglo Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil.