Ottawa to eases pipeline rules in bid to boost oil exports to Asia – by Claudia Cattaneo and Peter Koven (National Post – March 30, 2012)

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

The federal government gave a boost to oil sands exports to Asia by streamlining the environmental review process and making it more difficult for environmental groups to mount an opposition.
 
In its budget brought down Thursday, Ottawa said it will propose legislation aimed at having “one project, one review” that establishes clear timelines for approval of big resource and industrial projects, reduces duplication and regulatory burdens, and focuses resources on the largest projects with the biggest environmental impacts.
 
Most of Canada’s oil is now exported to the United States, where it is heavily discounted because of pipeline bottlenecks.
 
Canadian governments and industry have been pushing for market diversification in Asia by way of new pipelines to the West Coast, but have run into opposition from the environmental movement and First Nations that are targeting regulatory reviews to delay the projects.

“We will implement responsible resource development and smart regulation for major economic projects, respecting provincial jurisdiction and maintaining the highest standards of environmental protection,” Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said in his budget speech to the House of Commons.
 
The new rules will apply to the Northern Gateway pipeline proposed by Enbridge Inc., which would transport 550,000 barrels a day of crude from Alberta to Kitimat on the British Columbia coast, Mr. Flaherty said. Regulators are now reviewing the project.
 
Another project, an expansion of Kinder Morgan’s TransMountain pipeline from Alberta to Vancouver, is in the planning stages and could also benefit from the new process.
 
“If there is a way to streamline things, to make it more efficient for projects to go through the kinds of reviews they need to, we support that,” said Andrew Galarnyk, spokesman for Kinder Morgan, which is considering a capacity expansion to 700,000 b/d, from 300,000 b/d.
 
The government, which blames what it calls foreign-funded groups for whipping up opposition to oil sands pipelines, says it will restrict the ability of charities to fund organizations that engage in political activities.
 
For the rest of this article, please go to the National Post website: http://business.financialpost.com/2012/03/29/ottawa-eases-pipeline-rules-in-bid-to-boost-oil-exports-to-asia/?__lsa=bf2638a3