Three members of the Yellowknife chapter recently attended the Prairies regional meeting in Edmonton.
The Canadian Press reports, “The Northwest Territories is promoting the idea of a ‘made-in-the-North’ oil pipeline as a means to get Canadian crude to international markets, bypassing jurisdictions that have been less than keen on such developments. …David Ramsay, the territory’s industry minister, envisions a pipeline that would transport Alberta crude through the Northwest Territories and the Yukon to Alaska, where it could be shipped to Asia on tankers. The line could also transport crude out of the Canol shale oil deposit, a potentially huge, but early stage, resource in the Northwest Territories’ Central Mackenzie Valley.”
“Producers in the oilsands have been anxious to get their crude to markets that can pay the best price, but a dearth of pipelines to tidewater has made that difficult. Political opposition in British Columbia, which goes to the polls on Tuesday, could scuttle two West Coast oil pipelines that would connect Alberta crude to Asia. Similarly, the fate of the contentious Keystone XL pipeline, which would enable oilsands crude to flow to U.S. Gulf coast refineries, remains up in the air as the State Department reviews a reworked proposal.”
“In B.C., opposition to Northern Gateway and Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain expansion has been vociferous, but there’s been little outcry to plans to ship natural gas to the coast to be liquefied and sent abroad (via the Pacific Trails pipeline to Kitimat). No matter the outcome of the election in British Columbia on Tuesday, (energy consultant Dave) Matthews said there’s little hope of Northern Gateway or the Trans Mountain expansion going ahead. …’The North may indeed be the route to market’, said Matthews.”
A Council of Canadians chapter was recently formed in the Northwest Territories. Edmonton-based Prairies-NWT organizer Scott Harris will be visiting Yellowknife this Thursday May 16.
