Thorunn Howatt
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 05/01) - Members of the Aboriginal Pipeline Group postponed a trip to Ottawa this week.

They had hoped to have informal talks with the energy reference committee, which is composed of members of the federal cabinet.

Group chair Nellie Cournoyea said preparations for the meeting have not been completed.

The group wants to have plans in place within the next month and has asked the committee to reschedule the meeting.

The Aboriginal Pipeline Group, along with commercial oil companies Imperial, Conoco, ExxonMobil and Shell, hope to build a pipeline to carry natural gas from the Mackenzie Delta southward.

The commercial producers have already committed their portion of the financing for the project but the aboriginal group is hoping to find financial backing from the federal government.