The Trans Mountain oil pipeline under construction in Acheson, Alberta, in 2019. The government of Alberta will lean on the expertise of Trans Mountain in its application for a new pipeline.Candace Elliott/Reuters
The Alberta government plans to head up an application for a new oil pipeline to the B.C. coast, leveraging the expertise of Enbridge Inc. ENB-T, South Bow Corp. SOBO-T and Trans Mountain Corp. to help develop the plan, according to three sources.
The idea is to hammer out an application and an early estimate that can be sent to the federal government’s new Major Projects Office, the sources said, but a final route has not yet been decided.
The Globe and Mail is not naming the sources as they were not authorized to speak publicly about Alberta’s plans.
The three companies will work with the government and the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute to hammer out the backbone of the models of a potential route, one source said.
While there is a small financial risk to the province to file an application, the sources said it’s nowhere near the $1.3-billion Alberta put up to back the Keystone XL pipeline project, which was scrapped in 2021 after Joe Biden pulled its permit as one of his first official acts as U.S. President.
The idea is not for the province to own a pipeline, they said, it’s about developing a plan and a route, and letting private capital take over.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s office said the premier will announce today “a new project that aims to strengthen Canada’s energy infrastructure and drive future economic growth.”
Ms. Smith said after a recent Calgary Chamber of Commerce event that she expects to see a bitumen pipeline on the federal government’s next list of major projects.
But first, she said, Ottawa must address laws that she says are preventing investment in the oil and gas sector, including the emissions cap and Bill C-48, which prohibits oil tankers from carrying more than 12,500 metric tons of oil from stopping or unloading the cargo at ports along British Columbia’s north coast.
That law, passed in 2019, has ruled out a new oil pipeline to Prince Rupert, B.C., which has long been the focus of a potential route to allow Alberta oil to export to Asia.
The ban has made it illegal for pipeline companies to head up an application, one source said, so the Alberta government has agreed to take that on to reduce the legal risk.
Ms. Smith said the province was working with the federal government to come up with some “common understanding” when it comes to the rules with which she takes issue.
Federal Internal Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc would only say that the federal and Alberta governments have been in discussions on projects to help the provincial economy.
“I’ve been participating and the Prime Minister’s been leading very constructive discussions with Premier Smith and the Government of Alberta about the importance of the Alberta economy to Canada’s economic strength, including the energy sector, including conventional energy sources,” he told reporters Wednesday.
“We’re always interested in things that would strengthen the Canadian economy and provide growth to Canada’s GDP and at the right time, the government will have something to say.”
Ms. Smith has made no secret that her government is working with oil companies to try to secure a proposal for a new pipeline to the West Coast, and has said she expects Prime Minister Mark Carney to “operate in good faith” on the pipeline issue.
Alberta has said it is prepared to pledge barrels on a new line and, in January, dangled the prospect of guaranteeing a “significant” volume of oil and gas for new or expanded pipelines in the hope of encouraging Enbridge to increase its transport capacity to the United States.
“We’d be prepared to do that here … in order to get the private proponents to the table” on a new pipeline, she said last month.
The Major Projects Office is central to Mr. Carney’s plans for billions of dollars in new industrial developments, serving as a single point of contact to get projects build faster. It will evaluate projects that could be deemed “nation-building” endeavours worthy of fast-tracking and eligible for assistance with permits and funding needs.
The office is led by former Trans Mountain chief executive Dawn Farrell, who headed up the corporation when the controversial pipeline system expansion came online.