Editorial: The End of the Beginning

There has been little in the way of actual news of late, so allow me to ramble a little...

2009 is drawing to a close. It has been a year of relatively little import as regards the two major northern gasline projects, but I'm hoping it winds up being remembered as the "calm before the storm".

The most significant event of the year hasn't yet taken place: the release of the Mackenzie Valley Joint Review Panel report. Or the announcement of another delay in the release of said report. Either way, it's a significant event. The hope for many, of course, is that the report is released according to the heavily-amended schedule, and that it contains no showstoppers. Such an announcement raises the likelihood of a project announcement in the next year considerably.

It's true, though, that if the JRP fails to meet its December deadline that this would be equally significant. A delay of more than a few weeks, say, could derail the project irretrievably.

Meanwhile, in Alaska, it would appear that many residents are losing patience with Sarah Palin's AGIA. There hasn't been a lot of obvious movement, and some seem to be using this to suggest the legislation is a bust. What these critics are either missing or ignoring is that TransCanada's project is progressing as planned. There isn't any real, publicly-visible progress to be seen until TC undertakes its open season in 2010. According to recently published reports, that's still on track.

The really BIG news with TC's bid to build the Alaska Highway gasline, though, was the announcement last June of Exxon/Mobil's participation in the engineering work. While this doesn't actually tie E/M to TC's bid, it did come across as something of an implied endorsement.

And Denali, the joint ConocoPhilips/BP pipeline project continues on its merry way. They performed field work in the Yukon this year, held meetings with First Nations leaders here, and continued to insist that their schedule to conduct an open season in 2010 is still solid. Mind you, they still haven't announced exactly when in 2010 they'll be holding that open season (TC's starts in May), but they may just be maintaining flexibility. Who knows?

It's been a quiet year for news, but that doesn't mean that nothing's been happening. A lot of pieces have been moved around on the board, and we're getting set for a somewhat noisier 2010.

Brett Chandler