OMM Redaksiyası
Canada has designated the proposed West Coast Oil Pipeline, known as “Pacific Link,” a project of national interest as it seeks to reduce its dependence on the US market, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Thursday.
Speaking alongside Alberta Premier Danielle Smith in Fort McMurray, Carney said 90% of Alberta’s oil currently goes to the United States. The pipeline would allow Canada to export an additional 1 million barrels a day to growing markets in Asia, he said.
Pipeline aims to expand export markets
Carney said access to more customers would give Canadian energy producers more choice and higher prices, while providing greater long-term security of demand.
He also said Indigenous peoples had been involved in the project from the outset. Canada and Alberta have agreed that the project proponent will offer Indigenous communities at least a 10% ownership interest in the pipeline, financed through their respective Indigenous loan guarantee programs. The project will also create Indigenous contracting and employment opportunities, he said.
Government forecasts jobs and revenue
The revenue would support infrastructure and housing development, along with social programs including healthcare, dental care and child care, the statement said.
The project is part of the federal government’s broader plan to double non-US exports over the next decade, the statement added, describing Pacific Link as transformative.
