A 1,200-kilometre natural gas pipeline would be built through the Northwest Territories' Mackenzie Valley from the Beaufort Sea to a hub in northern Alberta. (CBC)

More delays for the $16.2-billion Mackenzie natural gas project could hurt those in the Northwest Territories waiting for Arctic gas to start flowing, but one of the project's backers remains hopeful the pipeline will become reality.

"People should not be concerned," says Fred Carmichael of the Aboriginal Pipeline Group, one of the companies in the pipeline consortium led by Imperial Oil.

"I think that they must understand that we hope to be pressing the 'on' button here," Carmichael, the group's Inuvik, N.W.T. -based chairman, said Tuesday.

"People should not lose faith. We need to continue to push this."

The Aboriginal Pipeline Group represents three N.W.T. aboriginal groups along the pipeline route: the Inuvialuit, the Gwich'in and the Sahtu nations. The group has negotiated a one-third stake in the pipeline.

Reaction has been mixed to this week's announcement by the consortium that it has pushed the 1,200-kilometre pipeline's proposed startup date to 2018 at the earliest, four years past the previously projected start date of 2014.

When the consortium filed its application in 2004, it gave a start date of 2009. Several delays have been announced since then, while the companies waited for approval from various regulatory bodies.

The companies have yet to make a final decision on whether to go ahead with the project, which is being reviewed by the National Energy Board. In a letter to the board, Imperial says the consortium will likely decide in late 2013 whether to proceed.

Local firms could be hurt: analyst

The latest delay could hurt business owners in the Inuvik area, where the pipeline would begin, said oil industry analyst Doug Matthews.

"I'm afraid they're going to get badly, badly hurt by this additional delay," Matthews said.

"Not only will it be a delay in the Mackenzie gas project itself, but I'm afraid that it's going to be a delay in induced development around the Mackenzie gas project — you know, other exploration companies coming in, for example."

Carmichael said jobs will be created in the North long before construction and production even begins on the pipeline, assuming the NEB approves it and the consortium works out a financial agreement with the federal government.

"There's still access and benefits agreements in the Dehcho [aboriginal region] and the engineering work, a lot of survey work, a lot of hearings and what-have-you on the permits, so there's lots of ongoing work, for sure."

Shale gas threatens pipeline

But Matthews said Imperial's updated timeline underestimates the impact that other natural gas discoveries, namely shale gas, could have on the northern pipeline's viability.

"Shale gas is everywhere, and it's really scary because none of us even thought about this even five years ago," he said.

"Those volumes are very, very close to the end-user market, which gives them a competitive advantage that's opposed to Arctic gas, either ours or Alaskan."