Well, it was nice while it lasted...

Swords already drawn over Mackenzie report - The Globe and Mail

The ink isn't even dry over the JRP report (figuratively speaking, of course... since it was released on the Internet I should maybe say the electrons are not yet discharged?), and there is apparently already discord among other producer groups. This piece from The Globe and Mail suggests that if the feds are to provide support this line, that they may have a few questions to answer first. Producer groups in Alberta may apparently object to a supply of gas from the Mackenzie Delta if the federal government provides any degree of support. Alberta supplies have declined in recent years, and a new supply from northern Canada may do some degree of damage to what is left of the market.

I haven't editorialized much over the run of this blog to this point, but sometimes one has to draw a line: it's the height of hypocrisy for Alberta gas producers to object to this project. Back in the 1950s it became clear that natural gas was plentiful in Alberta, and that there were some significant challenges in bringing it to market. The (Social Credit) government of the day decided to support this new industry with a huge infrastructure investment, namely the Alberta Gas Trunk Line. This investment brought huge amounts of gas to market. And, yes, the producers paid for this investment over time, to the point where the Alberta government was able to successfully spin off this investment to the private sector, but this investment was initially made when government was the only major player able to provide it.

The basin that has provided so much wealth to the natural gas producers of Alberta is being drawn down, and the time is coming to find new supplies. Producers in the Mackenzie Delta have been waiting to sell this gas for decades now, and their time has come.

It's not as if Alberta receives no benefit from Mackenzie Delta gas; it will still require transport on Alberta pipelines, corporations based in Alberta will provide much of the development and personnel for the project, and--most importantly--liquids from this gas will provide feedstock for Alberta's petrochemical plants. Plants like the Novacor Chemicals ethylene plant near Red Deer that is one of the biggest plastics producers in the world.

It's not to say that this project isn't open to criticism, but to call federal participation somehow discriminitory against Alberta producers is kind of two-faced, if you ask me.