Feds won’t intervene in pipeline hearings

ENERGY Trans Mountain project caught in more delays

OTTAWA• Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr reiterated Wednesday Ottawa’ s support for the potentially delayed Trans Mountain expansion project, even after the federal government declined to participate in an upcoming hearing on the pipeline.

Ottawa approved t he pipeline development in November 2016.

Carr has been vocally supportive of the $ 7.4- billion expansion, but the federal government has taken a backseat on regulatory proceedings.

“The responsible thing for the government of Canada to do is let the process work its way out,” Carr told reporters.

“We have approved this project, we want it to proceed,” he said. “We have not backed away from that judgment.”

The comments come as Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd. has warned in recent weeks that regulatory snags could set back its completion date by as much as nine months, and that the project could even be cancelled if delays persist.

Ottawa has declined to participate in hearings over the project scheduled for later this month, which could decide whether the project meets further delays or is cancelled altogether. Applications to intervene closed midnight Wednesday.

Failure to build the pipeline threatens to intensify pressure on the Liberals, who have publicly repeated their commitment to helping Canada’s oil and gas industry gain better access to international markets for its crude.

Last month, Calgarybased TransCanada Corp. cancelled its contentious Energy East pipeline, citing both a three- year slump in oil prices and heightened regulatory requirements brought on by the National Energy Board.

The project was seen as unnecessary due to the falling production projections in Canada’s oil sector, as major new capital investments are shelved or cancelled.

But analysts say if any of the three major export arteries currently proposed are cancelled — TransCanada’s Keystone XL, Trans Mountain, or Enbridge Inc.’s Line 3 replacement — Canada could face a severe pipeline crunch, forcing more barrels to move by rail.

The Trans Mountain expansion would nearly triple capacity of the existing pipeline, which currently carries 300,000 barrels per day of crude from Edmonton to a port in Vancouver. Industry proponents say the line would be a vital connection to international markets that would effectively allow producers to fetch a higher price for their crude.

One year after it was approved, the project is still at risk of not being built.

Kinder Morgan Canada, the Canadian division of Houston-based Kinder Morgan Inc., said in an Oct. 26 filing to the National Energy Board that the municipality of Burnaby, B.C. was intentionally holding up construction of the project by failing to issue the necessary permits.

The company said failure to issue those permits was causing construction delays at its Burnaby and Westridge Marine terminals.

The issue will be discussed in two oral hearings hosted by the NEB on Nov. 29 and Dec. 4. The provinces of B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan will all participate in the hearings. The federal attorney general declined to participate in the hearings in a Nov. 2 letter to the regulator.

Carr on Wednesday said the federal body did not traditionally participate in such hearings.

The pipeline project has technically received all of its necessary permits to move ahead.

“They do have the permission that they require,” said Sarah Kiley, a spokesperson for the NEB based in Calgary.

Some First Nations and other communities along the route of the project are opposing the development through the Federal Court of Appeal, though those disputes are unlikely to be heard before construction commences.

The B. C. government, led by its new NDP premier John Horgan, will take part in the oral hearings to oppose the development of the project. Alberta and Saskatchewan will both argue in favour of the development.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley has been vocally supportive of Trans Mountain, and will be appearing in several major Canadian cities this month to promote the purported benefits of the pipeline.