“TC Energy’s decision to proceed with the help of the Alberta government will allow the oilpatch to hit the ground running when prices recover”
CALGARY – TC Energy Corp.’s decision to proceed with the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline with the help of the Alberta government would allow the oilpatch to hit the ground running when prices recover.
“This is absolutely critical for our economic future now more than ever,” Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said in an interview with the Financial Post.
On Tuesday, TC Energy, formerly known as TransCanada Corp., said it has decided to build the controversial pipeline with a US$1.1-billion “strategic investment” from the Alberta government.
The province is making a preferred equity investment in the 830,000-barrels-per-day pipeline project that would carry oil from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast, home to the largest concentration of heavy oil refineries in the world.
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“We appreciate the ongoing backing of landowners, customers, Indigenous groups and numerous partners in the U.S. and Canada who helped us secure project support and key regulatory approvals as this important energy infrastructure project is poised to put thousands of people to work, generate substantial economic benefits and strengthen the continent’s energy security,” TC Energy president and CEO Russ Girling said in a release Tuesday.
The project, first proposed in 2008, had been staunchly opposed by environmental groups and some farmers along the route, and has repeatedly been the subject of lawsuits and regulatory delays. Last year, the Nebraska Supreme Court approved the project, removing the last remaining obstacle for the project after a protracted legal battle with a group of opposed landowners in that state.
Girling said that the project “could not have advanced” without the support of both U.S. President Donald Trump and Alberta Premier Jason Kenney.