Backers of the proposed Mackenzie Valley natural gas project say a British-American plan to build a pipeline in Alaska will not change their plans to run a pipeline through the Northwest Territories.

An official with Imperial Oil, which is part of a consortium behind the Mackenzie pipeline proposal, said the company is not fazed by the announcement Tuesday by Britain's BP and U.S.-based ConocoPhilips that they intend to build a 3,200-kilometre pipeline to a hub in Alberta from Alaska's North Slope.

"Our approach has always been to maintain focus on our project, and the work that's within our control, and the work that we can do to advance our project," Pius Rolheiser, a spokesman for Calgary-based Imperial Oil Canada, told CBC News on Wednesday.

The 1,220-kilometre Mackenzie Valley pipeline would carry natural gas south from the Mackenzie Delta near Inuvik south through the N.W.T. to gas markets in Alberta. The $16.2-billion pipeline is scheduled to start production in 2014 if it receives all the regulatory approvals needed to proceed.

ConocoPhilips is also part of the Mackenzie pipeline consortium, which includes Shell Canada, Exxon Mobil and the Aboriginal Pipeline Group.

The consortium hopes to find out this year whether it will get those regulatory approvals. The BP/ConocoPhilips project, dubbed Denali, aims to secure its regulatory approvals in five years.

"I guess if you really look long-term, there'll be people that will work on the Mackenzie pipeline and can then go work on the Alaska pipeline," said Bob McLeod, the N.W.T.'s minister of industry, tourism and investment.

If built, the Denali pipeline would cross the southwestern corner of the Yukon.

In January, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin rejected a pipeline plan by ConocoPhillips alone, instead choosing a proposal by Calgary-based TransCanada Corp.

Palin ruled that ConocoPhillips's stand-alone proposal would deprive the state of its regulatory powers. The company's plan was outside the bid requirements of the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA), which calls for companies competing for rights to build the pipeline to guarantee progress toward construction.

TransCanada's proposal was the only one that complied with AGIA's guidelines, and it currently remains under review by state regulators.

Despite the rejected bid, ConocoPhilips decided to move forward, saying it did not want to lose a potential summer season of field work.

It and BP said they have assigned staff on the project, which they say will be the largest private construction project in North American history.

TransCanada officials have said the company would not rule out a possible partnership to be negotiated with the two companies. Palin said she will approve whichever project is best for her state.

Imperial's Rolheiser warned that if the Denali pipeline is going to be built at the same time as the Mackenzie pipeline, it would raise construction costs for both projects.

He added that it is difficult to predict with any certainty what effect Alaskan natural gas would have on North American gas prices, since both proposed pipelines are long-term projects that would not start production until well after the year 2010.

 

With files from the Canadian Press