Delta

Supporters of the long awaited C$7 billion Mackenzie Delta natural gas pipeline may be close to cementing agreements with the Canadian government and aboriginal communities, which would lead to key public hearings in 2006.

Imperial Oil Ltd. and cosponsors of the proposed C$7 billion Mackenzie Delta pipeline have halted their work because of what they said was a lack of progress to move the development forward. The announcement is considered a major setback for development of the Mackenzie project, which would bring new supplies of gas from the Canadian Arctic to southern Canada and the Lower 48.

A price tag of C$500-$700 million (US$375-$525 million) has been put on a plan to turn the Mackenzie Delta Gas Pipeline and production project into the launching pad for significant hydroelectric development in the Northwest Territories. However, sponsors of Canada’s Arctic natural gas project are trying to figure out whether this would be an added complication or an answer to their most difficult problem of obtaining community consent to construction of its production and pipeline system.

A price tag of C$500-$700 million (US$375-$525 million) has been put on a plan to turn the Mackenzie Delta Gas Pipeline and production project into the launching pad for significant hydroelectric development in the Northwest Territories. However, sponsors of Canada’s Arctic natural gas project are trying to figure out whether this would be an added complication or an answer to their most difficult problem of obtaining community consent to construction of its production and pipeline system.

A long-line pipeline from the frontier region–Alaska’s North Slope, Mackenzie Delta, Mackenzie Corridor and the Yukon–would provide access to the “quickest and newest supply source” of natural gas for the North American market, supplying more than 10% of the continent’s gas demand by 2007, according to a new study commissioned by the INGAA Foundation.

An open season for up to 100 MMcf/d of firm transportationcapacity in the Sacramento Delta region of northern California isset for May 10 through the end of June by Western Gas Resources(WGR), which is planning to make an existing gas pipeline,gathering and delivery system an open-access, state-regulatedoperation. The state regulatory process to make the change willbegin June 8 with a pre-hearing conference in San Francisco.