Oil & Gas
Northern Gateway a nation-building project, says Enbridge CEO
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- Category: Oil & Gas
- Written by Elsie Ross
Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway project—which will provide access to Pacific Rim markets for Alberta crude oil—isn’t just another Alberta oil and gas project, but a Canadian nation-building energy project, according to the company’s top executive.
“A gateway to Pacific markets will have the same advantage for Canada in the 21st century that the St. Lawrence Seaway and key canals had for our country in the 19th and 20th centuries,” Pat Daniel, president and chief executive officer, said in a recent speech to the Empire Club in Toronto. The seaway, he pointed out, “was and remains a massive and multi-generational undertaking that has cemented Canada’s trade connections to the Atlantic nations.”
Canada’s West Coast is the gateway to half the globe’s geography and nearly half of the word’s population, he said. “It is an essential driver of our future economic success.”
While Canada’s geographic position in relation to the United States is a unique advantage, it also makes Canada complacent, a captive supplier and a price taker, he said. “The United States likes, perhaps even prefers Canadian oil. It is secure and reliable,” said Daniel. “But they have other options, a world of global energy options. We don’t.”
The Northern Gateway will open new markets for Canadian petroleum and create thousands of construction and supplier jobs—and significant permanent employment right across Canada, said Daniel. “It will generate millions of dollars in benefits for the First Nations and other communities involved and hundreds of billions of dollars for a generation of Canadians.”
But the project will proceed “only if we can rise above the mounting clamour of a coalition of hard-line activists and their political allies committed to saying ‘no’ to proposed projects and initiatives rather than seeking balanced, sustainable development and supporting continued prosperity for our entire country,” he said.
“We say ‘no’ to nuclear, we say ‘no’ to coal, we say ‘no’ to oil, we say ‘no’ to fracturing wells to recover natural gas, but we say ‘yes’ to light switches, cooked food, school buses and gas pedals.”
The proposed $5.5-billion project would deliver 525,000 barrels per day of oilsands production to the port of Kitimat, B.C., where it would be loaded into large crude tankers bound for Asian markets. A parallel pipeline would deliver imported condensate to Alberta for use in the oilsands.
The project, though, faces strong opposition from some First Nations and from environmental groups concerned about the risk presented by the tanker traffic through B.C. coastal waters.
Enbridge filed its regulatory application for the Northern Gateway in May 2010. Over the next 18 months, the joint review panel with representatives appointed by the National Energy Board and the federal environment minister will consult with stakeholders and study the application to determine if the project will cause significant adverse effects on the environment and whether it is in the public interest.
Earlier this year, the panel determined that additional information on the design and risk assessment of the pipelines is required due to the difficult access and unique geographic location of the proposed project. Once it has received this information, a hearing order will be issued.
Daniel said he believes the panel will hold Enbridge to the highest standards and will test the merits of the proposal. “I have confidence that it will render a decision that is, and will be seen to be, in the best interests of Canada.”
