Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
In July, 2011, TransCanada started shipping pipe to its laydown yards along the right of way. This was a convoy of pipe trucks passing through Shaunavon. That pipe sat for nine years. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
Premier Scott Moe made a bold statement on social media on Feb. 26, proclaiming pre-approval for pipeline projects.
Posting on X, he wrotes, “Effective Immediately: All pipeline permits going east, west, or south received in Saskatchewan will be considered pre-approved. We encourage all provinces and the federal government to do the same.
The post was clearly in response to President Donald Trump’s own social media post a day before calling for the Keystone XL Pipeline, killed off by the Joe Biden administration, be restarted and built.
President Joe Biden signs one of the 17 Executive Orders he signed on Inauguration Day Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, in the Oval Officeof the White House. One of those revoked presidential approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline, which had been approved previously by President Donald Trump. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)
The Alberta portion of Keystone XL was built and financed by the Province of Alberta. That included the pipe from its kickoff at the Hardisty terminal to Empress, Alberta, near the Saskatchewan border. The Saskatchewan portion, which would have run from Burstall, past Shaunavon, to the U.S. Border at Monchy, Saskatchewan, was never built. A few joints of pipe were installed at the international border. The remainder of the pipeline, to Steele City, Nebraska, also was never built.
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There are no major pipeline projects in play right now for Saskatchewan. The original proponent for Keystone XL, TC Energy (formerly TransCanada Pipeline, gave up on the project years ago. Last year it spun off its liquids division, the vast bulk of which was the original Keystone Pipeline, into a new company called South Bow. South Bow has not indicated any intention, to date, of reviving the project.
Another TC Energy project, Energy East, would have converted one of the existing pipelines in the TC Energy Mainline. It would have run from Hardisty to Empress, and crossed Saskatchewan from Burstall to Leader, Moose Jaw, Regina, Indian Head and leaving the province at Moosomin. That project, too, died after the federal Liberal government moved the goalposts by seeking to include greenhouse gas emissions from the end user of the oil the pipeline would have carried in its environmental assessment.
Interprovincial and international pipelines are under the regulatory purview of the Canadian Energy Regulator (CER). Keystone XL did have prior Canadian approval. Energy East had been submitted for federal approval, but was cancelled.
The net result is there are no major pipeline projects in play right now that could be “considered pre-approved,” and the regulatory authority to provide such approvals would reside with the federal, not provincial government.
UPDATE: The morning of Feb. 27, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith reposted Moe’s post, and added the following:
I have asked my officials to see how we can align with Saskatchewan. It’s time for Team Canada to get serious about our domestic energy security, nation building, and growing our economy. Alberta remains one of the most business-friendly jurisdictions in North America and I have repeatedly emphasized Alberta’s willingness to work with other provinces and the federal government to develop new pipeline projects across the country as soon as possible.
https://twitter.com/ABDanielleSmith/status/1895127386846568681
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