If built, the proposed natural gas pipeline would run from the Beaufort Sea, through the Inuvik, N.W.T., area and south through the Mackenzie Valley to northern Alberta. (CBC)

Town leaders and business owners in Inuvik, N.W.T., where the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline would begin, are coping with the latest delay to the long-awaited project while maintaining hope that the $16.2-billion natural gas pipeline will be built.

This week, proponents announced 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.

The delay is the latest for the pipeline — originally slated to begin production in 2009 — as proponents await approval from various regulatory agencies. The pipeline proposal is currently being reviewed by the National Energy Board (NEB), with a decision expected this fall.

"We're still more optimistic than we were this time last year. I don't think the delay is a huge shock to anyone," Inuvik Mayor Denny Rodgers told CBC News on Thursday.

"Bear in mind, you're talking [about] gas flowing in 2018. If, as anticipated, the NEB issues a certificate this fall [and] the proponents — along with the federal government — decide, 'Yes, we're going to go ahead and build this thing' … work will pick up and people will be busy again."

If approved, the Mackenzie Valley pipeline could be built from the Beaufort Sea, through the Inuvik area, down the Northwest Territories' Mackenzie Valley to a hub in northern Alberta, where it would connect with southern markets.

The consortium of companies behind the Mackenzie pipeline proposal, led by Calgary-based Imperial Oil, have yet to make a final decision on whether to go ahead with the project. In a letter to the NEB, Imperial Oil says the companies will likely make that decision in late 2013.

Businesses wait

The delays have not been good news for some Inuvik businesses that have been waiting years for the pipeline to be approved and built in their region.

"It is going to have an effect on a lot of construction companies with equipment," said Jim McDonald, a town councillor who also co-owns McDonald Brothers Electric in the town of about 3,500.

"They're certainly going to be hurting with this delay," he added. "It'll affect the community as well."

But McDonald and others say they are redirecting their energies to other work, not just pinning everything on the possibility of a pipeline.

"We really have never hinged all of our operation ability on the pipeline. We have other means to support ourselves," said Herbert Blake, a manager with Mackenzie Valley Construction.

"The oil and gas industry is very speculative; it's up and down every day," Blake added. "It just makes good business sense to be careful how you proceed when you're in the oil and gas business."

While Blake said his company has learned to adapt to the Mackenzie pipeline's changing timeline, he's still disappointed with the project's latest delay.

"We've done things to make sure that we're in a good position to secure some of the opportunities that are going to come as a result of that project," he said.

"To me, it's just a lot of posturing on the part of the proponents with the government, right?"

While local businesses try to keep busy in other industry sectors, they still hope the Mackenzie Valley pipeline will become a reality.

"I still think the pipeline will be built," said McDonald. "But we certainly can't sit around and wait for it, I guess, or we wouldn't survive."