The federal government is eyeing a new oil pipeline route in southern British Columbia that some in Ottawa believe would face fewer environmental hurdles and less resistance from Indigenous groups than the northern route Alberta is proposing, two federal sources say.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith signed an
memorandum of understanding in November, with the goals of unlocking Alberta’s energy sector and diversifying export markets in the face of U.S. President
Donald Trump’s trade war. The agreement laid the conditions for construction of a new oil conduit to the Pacific.
The MOU doesn’t say what path the pipeline will take. Ms. Smith has talked up a northern route that would carry Alberta oil to the Port of Prince Rupert, B.C. Her government is expected to propose such a route to Ottawa’s Major Projects Office this summer. An Alberta government source said the province expects that the federal government will designate the pipeline a project of national importance in the fall. We’ll have to wait and see.
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/busi...ustry-new-pipeline-national-security-federal/)
Alberta prefers a northern route for two main reasons. First, Prince Rupert is North America’s closest port to Asia by up to three days sailing – around 36 hours closer to Shanghai than Vancouver.
It’s also the continent’s deepest port, which would enable access for the large crude carriers that are favoured for transporting oil to Asia. The massive tankers can transport about two million barrels of the dense, heavy crude that comes from Alberta’s oil sands.
But the two federal sources say Ottawa leans instead toward a route that would run through the province’s south to the port of Vancouver. That pipeline could either run alongside the Trans Mountain pipeline or follow another path. In either case, the sources said, it would require a new terminal for loading oil onto tankers.
The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is planning to dredge the waters to deepen the channel in the Second Narrows waterway at Burrard Inlet. This will allow Aframax-class oil tankers at the Westridge Marine Terminal to operate at full capacity. The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is planning to dredge the waters to deepen the channel in the Second Narrows waterway at Burrard Inlet. This will allow Aframax-class oil tankers at the Westridge Marine Terminal to operate at full capacity.
The line would terminate at the port of Vancouver, potentially avoiding some of the pitfalls of a northern route pitched by Alberta’s Premier
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