Alberta to Unveil This Week Plan for New Crude Pipeline

 The oil-rich Canadian province of Alberta intends to unveil this week its proposal for a new pipeline designed to carry about 1 million barrels of crude oil a day to the Pacific Coast.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith had previously said the province would submit to federal officials by Wednesday, or July 1, its plan for a new energy corridor, and she tries to capitalize on Prime Minister Mark Carney's eagerness to both position Canada as an energy superpower and sell more goods to non-U.S. markets.

A spokesman for Smith said the province would share its new details on Thursday. The spokesman provided no further details, such as whether Smith was able to find private-sector investors to back the project.

At a press event Tuesday in northern Quebec, Carney said there was still no private-sector backer for the new energy corridor. Meanwhile, in a video posted on YouTube, Carney said projects like a new Alberta pipeline would help diversify buyers of Canadian energy beyond the U.S. "We now need to build energy infrastructure to give us new [trade] options," the Canadian leader added.

The chief executive of Cenvous Energy, John McKenzie, told an energy conference in Calgary, Alberta this month that the planned pipeline cannot be financed by the private sector due to Canada's regulatory system. Carney has signaled his willingness to throw the federal government's support toward a pipeline so long as some conditions are met--among them, the construction of multibillion-dollar carbon-capture and storage facility.

Oil companies have warned that the carbon-capture project, known as Pathways, can't be built without sizable government financing.

Smith's push for a pipeline comes as the province readies a referendum on Alberta's future in Canada, partly fueled by discontent among citizens about federal environmental policy thwarting oil-sector development. A vote scheduled in October will ask the province's citizens whether they want to hold a formal referendum to pursue independence from Canada. Polling suggests the majority of Albertans want to stay in Canada.

https://www.morningstar.com/news/dow-jones/202606307049/alberta-to-unveil-this-weeks-plan-for-new-crude-pipeline-update