Energy firms urged to better engage public
Pipeline companies need to get better at communicating with local communities, the head of Canada’s largest midstream company said Monday, as major new infrastructure projects continue to be snarled in regulatory delays.
“Industry needs to up its game,” Enbridge Inc. CEO Al Monaco told a large gathering of oil and gas professionals Monday at the IHS CERA week in Houston. “We’re not whining about what’s happening, but we do need to get better when it comes to developing and executing projects.”
Monaco’s comments come after a number of major pipeline projects in Canada were recently approved, including Kinder Morgan Inc.’s Trans Mountain expansion and Enbridge’s Line 3 replacement. TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL proposal to the U.S. Gulf Coast was also revived recently after President Donald Trump signed an executive order urging the project forward.
However, public discontent with pipelines continues to plague expansion plans, with many environmental groups and local residents promising to block the construction of those proposals.
Monaco said that pipeline companies need to improve their consultations with stakeholders of all kinds, including local communities, to better communicate their ideas and hear the criticisms of those who are wary of fossil fuel development.
“It’s this ‘how’ to do things that’s critical moving from, let’s call it consultation, to actually listening and carefully responding to peoples’ concerns,” he said.
There was a tinge of irony to the comments, which were addressed toward an exclusive group of oil and gas industry members. The industry has long been criticized for its insularity and lacklustre communication strategy with the public. In recent years, however, pipeline companies have spent much time and capital on public relations efforts.
The Northern Gateway Pipeline, a proposal that would have transported heavy oil from Alberta to the B.C. West Coast, was rejected in late 2016 by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. First Nations along the proposed route of the project said early-stage consultations weren’t adequate to account for their concerns.
Monaco’s comments come amid a general feeling of optimism among the industry members gathered. It is a stark contrast from the gloomy atmosphere of the last few years of the high-profile annual event.
Much of that optimism is tied to the resilience of light, tight oil producers in the U.S., who have proven among the lowest cost operators in the market.