Mackenzie Valley Pipeline

The Mackenzie Valley Pipeline is a proposed project to transport natural gas from the Beaufort Sea through Canada's Northwest Territories to tie into gas pipelines in northern Alberta. The project was first proposed in the early 1970s, but was scrapped following an inquiry conducted by Justice Thomas Berger. The project was resurrected in 2004 with a new proposal to transport gas through the sensitive arctic tundra. Probabilistic estimates of hydrocarbons in the Mackenzie Delta and Beaufort Sea regions project that there are natural gas reserves of convert|1.9|e12m3.cite book
url = http://www.neb.gc.ca/clf-nsi/rthnb/nrthffshr/frntrnfrmtn/hydrcrbnvlm-eng.pdf
title = Probabilistic Estimates of Hydrocarbon Volumes in the Mackenzie Delta and Beaufort Sea Discoveries
format= PDF
publisher = National Energy Board
year =1998
isbn= 0-662-27455-5
accessdate = 2008-06-14]

History

The prospect of a pipeline bringing the natural gas to North American energy markets was originally analyzed in the 1970s with the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry. During that inquiry, Justice Berger heard testimony from diverse groups with an interest in the pipeline. The inquiry was notable for the voice it gave to the First Peoples whose traditional territory the pipeline would traverse. Berger recommended a ten year moratorium on development of the pipeline to deal with issues such as Aboriginal land claims and setting aside of conservation areas. The proposal was effectively shelved.

Exploration continued at a steady pace and by 1995 there were over 1,900 wells above the 60th parallel. In addition, the natives settled numerous land claims. The Inuvialuit settled the first land claim in 1984, followed by the Sahtu and Gwichʼin. By the late 1990s, companies once again seriously considered a pipeline. The Canadian government sold mineral claim rights, leading to C$400 million in bids and over C$1 billion in work commitments.

With the first wave of land claims settled, negotiations began between oil and gas companies and local native groups. These negotiations proved successful in October 2001, when ConocoPhillips, Shell, ExxonMobil, and Imperial Oil signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Aboriginal Pipeline Group. The APG was formed to represent the Inuvialuit, Sahtu, and Gwichʼin. The Memorandum of Understanding offered the APG a financial stake in the pipeline.cite news
publisher=Aboriginal Pipeline Group
url = http://www.mvapg.com/page/page/1922394.htm
title = Aboriginal Pipeline Group
accessdate=2008-06-14]

On June 19, 2003 the Aboriginal Pipeline Group, and TransCanada Corp. signed an agreement giving the aboriginal groups of the Northwest Territories one-third ownership of the pipeline project.cite news
publisher=First Nations Drum
url=http://www.firstnationsdrum.com/Summer%202003/BizPipeline.htm
title = Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Moves Forward
author=Lloyd Dolha
accessdate=2008-06-14]

Technical description

The capacity of the pipeline is predicted to be convert|18.5|e9m3/a.cite news
publisher=Upstream Online
url=http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article142361.ece
title= MGM books Mackenzie pipe berth
date=2007-10-15
accessdate=2008-06-14] It will be convert|1220|km|mi|-1 long and the cost of the project is estimated at C$16.2 billion.cite news
url = http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/mackenzievalley_pipeline/
title = The Mackenzie Valley pipeline
publisher = CBC News
date = 2007-03-12
accessdate = 2008-06-14] cite news
publisher=Upstream Online
url=http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article155015.ece
title= Delays for Canadian Arctic gas pipeline
date=2008-05-16
accessdate=2008-06-14] As of mid-March, 2007, revised cost and schedule information included C$3.5 billion for the gas-gathering system, C$7.8 billion for the pipeline, and C$4.9 billion to other economic growth projects planned for three gas field sites in the Mackenzie River delta.cite journal
url = http://www.imperialoil.ca/Canada-English/Files/ThisIs/InTouch_Spring07.pdf
title = Mackenzie Gas Update
journal = In Touch
format= PDF
publisher = Imperial Oil
volume =5
issue = 1
year = 2007
pages = 6
accessdate = 2008-06-14] 2010, and also 2014 at the earliest, are current production and start-up milestones published for printed newsletters and on-line webpage articles of the pipeline project.cite paper
url = http://www.mackenziegasproject.com/moreInformation/publications/documents/Project_Phases&Sched.pdf
title = Project Phases and Scheduling
format= PDF
date =January 2004
accessdate = 2008-06-14]

Route

The pipeline would go south through the Mackenzie Valley to Fort Simpson and then continue south to Alberta. Once in Alberta the pipeline would feed into the existing pipeline infrastructure there.

Pipeline consortium

The pipeline consortium consists Imperial Oil, The Aboriginal Pipeline Group, ConocoPhillips Canada (North) Limited, Shell Canada Limited and ExxonMobil Canada Properties. A notable feature of the current proposal is the participation of First Nations through the Aboriginal Pipeline Group. The APG has the opportunity to acquire a one third interest in the pipeline. Four oil companies: Imperial Oil of Canada, ConocoPhillips Canada (North) Limited, Shell Canada Limited and ExxonMobil Canada Properties, hold the interest in the oil fields, a gathering plant at Inuvik, a liquids pipeline from the facility near Inuvik, to Norman Wells and a two-thirds interest in the pipeline.

TransCanada Corp. does not have a direct stake in the project, but is earning a share in the line through financial support for the Aboriginal Pipeline Group. There are speculations that the company was poised to take control of the project.cite news
publisher=Upstream Online
url=http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article145815.ece
title= TransCanada chief coy on pipeline reports
date=2007-12-13
accessdate=2008-06-14]

Environmental concerns

The pipeline project has raised concerns by environmental groups. The Boreal Forest Conservation Framework calls for protection of fifty percent of the convert|6000000|km2|sqmi|-5 of boreal forest (of which the Mackenzie Valley is a part) in Canada's north.cite news
url = http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-12-07-conservation-edit_x.htm
title = Where conservation and development coexist
author = Nick Jans
publisher = USA Today
date = 2005-12-07
accessdate = 2008-06-14] Groups such as the World Wildlife Fund of Canada are pointing out that in the Northwest Territories' Mackenzie Valley, only five of the 16 ecoregions that are directly intersected by the proposed major gas pipeline or adjacent hydrocarbon development areas are reasonably represented by protected areas.cite news
url = http://www.wwf.ca/AboutWWF/WhatWeDo/ConservationPrograms/MackenzieValley.asp
title = Mackenzie Valley
publisher = WWF Canada
accessdate = 2008-06-14]

The Sierra Club of Canada opposed the pipeline due to its perceived environmental impacts such as fragment intact of boreal forests along the Mackenzie River and damage of habitat for species such as Woodland Caribou and Grizzly bear. Sierra Club also argues that Mackenzie gas is slated to fuel further development of Alberta's tar sands, which produces the most damaging type of oil for the global atmosphere, through another pipeline to Fort McMurray.cite news
url = http://www.sierraclub.ca/national/programs/atmosphere-energy/energy-onslaught/campaign.shtml?x=307
title = Mackenzie Valley Pipeline and Alberta Tar Sands
publisher = Sierra Club of Canada National Office
accessdate = 2008-06-14] The Pembina Institute argues that carbon dioxide from the Mackenzie gas project and the fuel's end use would push Canada's greenhouse gas emissions 10% further away from its Kyoto Protocol commitment.cite news
url = http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article139614.ece
title = Green group seeks Arctic pipeline ban
publisher = Upstream Online
date = 2007-08-30
accessdate = 2008-06-14]

Competing projects

The Mackenzie Valley Pipeline projects competes with the Alaskan Natural Gas Pipeline project.

References

External links

* [http://www.mackenziegasproject.com/ Project website]