https://business.financialpost.com/
CALGARY – Regulators have recommended the federal government approve Teck Resources Ltd.’s massive new oilsands mine that could help reverse a trend of declining investment in the heavy oil formation, though analysts have been skeptical new mining projects can ever be built in the play given emissions limits and stringent regulatory reviews.
The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and the Alberta Energy Regulator announced late Thursday they were recommending Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna approve Frontier, a massive new oilsands mining project by the Vancouver-based miner, with the capacity to produce 85,000 barrels of oil per day by 2026, with future phases taking total output to 260,000 bpd by 2037.
While the two agencies determined the project was in the public interest, they also withheld approvals for parts of the project on Big Creek, a waterway in the area, and made its approval contingent on 62 different conditions.
A statement from McKenna’s office said that if the minister decides the new oilsands mine will result in significant adverse environmental impacts, then she would refer a decision on the project to the wider Liberal cabinet.
That could be a likely outcome given the CEAA and AER joint-review panel recommended the project be approved despite finding “there will be significant adverse project and cumulative effects on certain environmental components and indigenous communities.”
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