OTTAWA — Competing political visions on pipelines and energy development will be in the spotlight when Parliament resumes Oct. 16, as both regulatory and political decisions loom on major pipeline projects that have been under review for years.
For instance, a joint review panel studying the Northern Gateway project is to release its environmental assessment and recommendations by the end of the year, while U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to issue a final decision in early 2014 on the Keystone XL pipeline, a project Prime Minister Stephen Harper once said is a “no-brainer” for the U.S.
Just last week, Harper said Canada won’t “take no for an answer” on Keystone and predicted the controversial pipeline will someday win approval from the United States — even if the Obama administration rejects it.
But approving pipelines is anything but a no-brainer, say environmentalists. “The pipeline conversation really has fundamentally changed,” says Clare Demerse, director of federal policy for the Alberta-based Pembina Institute.
For a stunning interactive exploration of pipelines and their future across North America, click here.
Here’s what’s being discussed.
The pipelines:
Enbridge Northern Gateway project:
The federal Conservative government has set a Dec. 31, 2013 deadline for the National Energy Board joint review panel examining the proposed $6-billion pipeline to complete its environmental assessment and recommendations.
The 1,177-kilometre Gateway pipeline would transport 525,000 barrels of oil per day from near Edmonton to the port of Kitimat, B.C., where the product would be loaded onto supertankers and shipped to Asian markets. The pipeline would be operational by 2017.
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The proposed termination point for Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline in Kitimat, B.C.
The issue is politically dicey for the Harper government, which holds 21 seats in British Columbia and is looking to fend off Tom Mulcair’s NDP, which opposes the Northern Gateway pipeline and holds 12 seats in the province. The federal election is only two years away.
TransCanada Keystone XL:
The $5.3-billion Keystone XL pipeline would transport 830,000 barrels of oil a day, primarily from Alberta’s oilsands and the Bakken formation in North Dakota, to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The 1,897-km pipeline would run from the Hardisty, Alta. hub to Nebraska, then connect to a southern section of pipeline carrying the oilsands crude to refineries in Texas and Louisiana.
If Obama gives it the green light in early 2014, the pipeline could be operating by 2016.
“I tend to see the Keystone decision as really important because it will give a signal, in my mind, as to the future of North American energy,” says Andre Plourde, an energy economist and dean of the faculty of public affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa.
The Conservative government has invested significant political capital in the project, launching an advertising offensive in the U.S. and regularly sending ministers to lobby American lawmakers.
But the pipeline has become a magnet of criticism for citizens who say it will increase U.S. reliance on Canadian “dirty oil” and generate additional carbon emissions that contribute to climate change.
TransCanada Energy East:
The project would ship 1.1 million barrels of crude per day — including from Alberta’s oilsands and Saskatchewan — to refineries in Quebec and Atlantic Canada. It would terminate at the deep-water port and Irving Oil refinery in Saint John, N.B., where the product could be exported. The project would also deliver oil to existing refineries in Montreal and Quebec City (a terminal in Quebec City would also allow for marine-tanker loading).
Under the $12-billion plan, TransCanada would convert approximately 3,000 km of existing natural gas pipeline and construct an additional 1,400 km to the refinery and new deep-water marine terminal in Saint John. The pipeline would be in-service in phases over late 2017 and 2018.
Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain expansion:
The project would see a $5.4-billion expansion/twinning to Kinder Morgan’s 60-year-old Trans Mountain line from Alberta to B.C.
This would nearly triple the capacity of crude shipped — transporting 890,000 barrels of oil per day, mostly oilsands crude, from the Edmonton area to Burnaby — creating additional tanker traffic in Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet. The twinned pipeline would be operational in 2017.
Enbridge Line 9 reversal and expansion:
Enbridge’s multi-billion-dollar plan proposes to fully reverse the company’s 240,000-barrels-per-day Line 9 pipeline so it flows from Sarnia, Ont., to Montreal, and increase capacity to 300,000 barrels per day, opening market opportunities for energy producers in the West and providing cheaper crude to Quebec and Eastern Canada.
A final decision on the project is expected from the National Energy Board in early 2014.
But the proposal is facing backlash from environmental groups and some landowners worried about possible pipeline ruptures that could contaminate ecosystems, farmland and watersheds draining into the Great Lakes.
The political arguments:
The Harper government says projects such as the Northern Gateway and Keystone XL are important for getting Western Canadian crude to market. The government has given the federal cabinet final say on whether to approve some major pipeline projects in the “national interest” — including the Northern Gateway — stripping that power from the National Energy Board.
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Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and NDP Leader Tom Mulcair.
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair opposes the Northern Gateway project and also rejects the Keystone XL, saying the cross-border pipeline would export Canadian jobs. However, he has supported plans for the west-east pipeline if it can be done safely. Mulcair will release his party’s “pan-Canadian” energy policy this fall.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau opposes the Northern Gateway project, saying the government has failed to properly consult First Nations and answer environmental questions.
The Liberal leader, however, tentatively supports a west-east pipeline, if environmental questions are properly addressed, and says the government’s failure to adopt grittier greenhouse gas regulations “endangers projects like Keystone XL” that would get Canadian petroleum to market.
The Lac-Megantic, Que. rail disaster has also raised new questions about the transport of hazardous goods, including around shipping petroleum by rail car and pipelines.
The economic arguments for the pipelines:
A glut of oil from multiple continental sources, including the oilsands, and inability to move it to market due to pipeline bottlenecks, has resulted in large discounts for Western Canadian crude compared to North American benchmark West Texas Intermediate and international Brent prices.
The Alberta and federal governments, along with groups like the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, say this has been costing various governments billions of dollars a year. Refiners in Eastern Canada have also been forced to pay higher prices for imported crude.
Ottawa and the industry maintain the projects will create thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of economic benefits for the Canadian economy.
The environmental arguments against the pipelines:
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Protesters hold signs against the building of the Keystone XL Pipeline, a 3,200-kilometre conduit for oil from Canada’s tarsands region to the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The various pipeline projects on the table, the Pembina Institute says, open the door to increased oilsands production — the fastest-growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. There are also significant concerns from landowners and First Nations groups about the potential impacts on land and water from pipeline ruptures.
The Harper government has yet to release long-awaited greenhouse gas regulations for the oil and gas sector. Some say this has eroded Canada’s environmental credentials.
“We have to expect environmental issues to be bigger concerns down the road,” says Plourde.
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- Stephen Harper hoping to garner support for pipeline projects in coming weeks (o.canada.com)
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- U.S. oilsands opponents turn focus to Northern Gateway, Trans Mountain pipeline proposals (calgaryherald.com)
- Stephen Harper says he won’t accept Keystone XL rejection (o.canada.com)
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