Calgary, 2 September (Argus) -- The prospect of streamlined federal reviews is a welcome step for Canada's oil and gas industry, but producers and pipeline companies are still waiting for the government to address policies widely seen as incompatible with development.
"Now is the time to remove the barriers holding back Canadian prosperity," Enbridge chief executive Greg Ebel wrote in a statement following the launch of the Major Projects Office (MPO) on 29 August.
The MPO has been advertised by prime minister Mark Carney as a one-stop shop for regulatory reviews with the promise of reducing the approval timeline for projects of national interest to a maximum of two years.
But significant regulatory uncertainty remains as the federal government has yet to weigh in on, let alone revise, legislation that has dissuaded investment in the upstream and midstream sectors. Among those are a tanker ban on British Columbia's (BC) northern coast and an emissions cap, which industry reckons is essentially a cap on production.
Ebel, reiterating the message he and 37 other oil and gas companies penned in an open letter in late-April, again called on the government to remove the emissions cap, end the west coast tanker ban, accelerate approvals and ensure indigenous participation in resource development.
The MPO will allow select projects to circumvent some assessment-related policies, helping Carney to both kickstart a lagging economy and pivot trade away from the US. While it has yet to be tested, the office on its own may not be enough to entice the private capital Canada wants.
"We need a fast-follow on action -- including a significant policy reset to attract investment and create meaningful momentum to become a global energy superpower," said Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) chief executive Lisa Baiton.
CAPP estimates that C$26bn ($19bn) worth of oil and gas projects are under construction and another C$100bn in projects are waiting for final investment decisions.
The new MPO will be headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, among Canada's largest oil and gas producers, and headed up by former Trans Mountain chief executive Dawn Farrell. While these choices by the feds are an "encouraging sign" for Alberta premier Danielle Smith, her planned proposal to the MPO for a 1mn b/d bitumen pipeline to BC's northern coast faces clear challenges.
"There's no point in building a pipeline if you can't load it on a ship," said Smith of the tanker ban and other "offensive" policies that need to be repealed or substantially revised.
While Farrell will oversee the MPO, power to add project proposals to the coveted "Projects of National Interest" list will remain with Carney's cabinet. The first projects are expected to be announced in the first half of September, according to Carney.