Enbridge Inc. announced that pursuant to the Joint Review Panel’s (JRP) recommendation, the Northern Gateway Project has received Governor in Council (GIC) approval by the Canadian federal government. The JRP’s recommendation was subject to 209 conditions.
Stakeholder input contributed to Northern Gateway commitments and proposed measures that were acknowledged by the Joint Review Panel as industry leading in a number of areas, including marine mitigation, consultation, engineering and safety and emergency response.
The Panel acknowledged that the potential economic benefits of Northern Gateway on local, regional and national economics would be positive and likely significant.
Northern Gateway is the first pipeline project to be approved to enable Canada to diversify markets for its crude oil and achieve full-market-value pricing. The project complements Enbridge’s broader suite of market access projects that will open 1.7 MMbbls of incremental market access to eastern Canada, the U.S. Gulf Coast and the U.S. Midwest by 2016. With Northern Gateway, Canadian producers will have greater access to the fastest growing markets in the Asia Pacific Rim.
The Northern Gateway Project is a proposed 1,177-km twin pipeline system and marine terminal. The project would transport 525,000 bpd of oil for export and import 193,000 bpd of condensate. Enbridge is partnering with leading Canadian and international energy companies, First Nations and Métis communities in British Columbia and Alberta.
