Mackenzie pipeline OK'd by cabinet, energy board - Business - CBC News
The Mackenzie Valley Natural Gas Pipeline project has passed its most significant regulatory hurdle: it has been approved by Canada's energy regulator and federal cabinet.
While local permitting would still have to be granted for actual construction, the project itself has been given it's most important regulatory green light. This comes after an extended review period; the Joint Review Panel examining the project took years longer than originally scheduled before it issued its final recommendations last year.
According to this CBC item, the project currently carries a projected price tag of CDN$16.2 billion, up considerably from the $5 billion estimates when the project was reactivated about a decade ago. This difficult hurdle prompted proponent Imperial Oil to request an extended timeline for committing to build; the proponents have until the end of 2013 to decide if they will proceed with the project.
As of right now, I suspect there's some quiet but frenzied lobbying going on. The producers want to establish a "fiscal framework" for the project with the assistance of the Canadian federal government. Specifically, given the US$20 billion+ in loan guarantees that have been offered to anyone who agrees to build an Alaska Highway pipeline, the proponents of the Canadian project are looking for something similar. Given that Canada has a minority government, and that an election is fairly likely this year, I doubt we'll see much in the way of open discussions on the matter for a while.
Even so, this has been a long time coming, and is cause for enthusiasm, if not outright celebration.
