Premier Danielle Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney have signed an energy co-operation deal that lays the groundwork for a new pipeline to the West Coast.
The memorandum of understanding (MOU) outlines a series of commitments by both governments to strengthen co-operation on major infrastructure projects, especially a one-million-barrel-per-day, privately financed and constructed and Indigenous co-owned bitumen pipeline to a B.C. port to feed Asian demand. The federal government would declare the pipeline a project of national interest.
Extra capacity would be on top of a planned 300,000- to 400,000-barrel-a-day expansion to the Trans Mountain Pipeline.
Alberta's goal is to boost oil production from its current 4.2 million barrels a day to six million barrels per day by 2030 and eight million barrels by 2035.
Carney committed to fast-tracking an Alberta pipeline through federal approval processes and adjusting a West Coast tanker ban if a projects gets approved. As part of the MOU, both the Alberta and federal governments agree to consult with Indigenous partners and the Government of B.C. to ensure they get substantial economic and financial benefit from a new pipeline
The federal government has also agreed not to implement a federal oil and gas emissions cap and suspend federal Clean Energy Regulations.
Alberta will agree to signing an industrial carbon pricing agreement that calls for a carbon price of $130 per tonne - previously frozen by the premier at $95 per tonne - by April 1. The province also agrees by that date to bring in a strategy to slash methane emissions by 75 per cent by 2035, bringing it in line with 2014 emissions levels.
Tied to the pipeline project, is a commitment by both governments to partner with companies behind the proposed multi-billion-dollar Pathways Alliance carbon capture project that is designed to make the Alberta oilsands less emissions-intensive.
Carney said Pathways would transform Alberta's oilpatch into "an entirely new industry" and make "Alberta energy competitive for the long term."
Smith called the agreement Alberta's "moment of opportunity" towards taking the first step to becoming a global energy superpower.
"There is much hard work ahead of us, but today is a new starting point for nation building as we increase our energy production for the benefit of millions and forge a new relationship between Alberta and the federal government," she said in a statement.
B.C. Premier David Eby has expressed opposition to a new pipeline and any relaxations to the tanker ban.
Smith was asked in a news conference whether a lack of co-operation from Indigenous groups and the B.C. government could kill a proposed pipeline.
The premier said there was no veto for them or anyone else in the MOU but reinforced that it was "imperative" that there was Indigenous ownership.