Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 03/02) - The Northwest Territories' biggest trading partner is hedging its bets on the pipeline race.

On Thursday the Alberta government announced Premier Ralph Klein intends to sign a memorandum of understanding with Alaska.

In a May 30 press release, the government announced the MOU will not mean Alberta supports an Alaskan pipeline "over competing pipeline projects."

The only competing pipeline proposal is likely to come from the NWT. A consortium of oil companies is developing a plan to build a pipeline down the Mackenzie Valley.

"If it's uneconomic, it doesn't matter what Alberta and the premier say. It's still uneconomic," said NWT Premier Stephen Kakfwi.

Alaska's gas producers have said that, at an estimated $15 billion, a pipeline from Alaska's north slope to Alberta will not pay.

"They can sign whatever agreement they want," Kakfwi said, suggesting the agreement should include a provision opposing the subsidies Alaskan politicians have lobbied for.

Klein is expected to sign the MOU in the state capital of Anchorage days before the Western premier's conference in Dawson, Yukon, June 4-6.

The main purpose of the MOU, Alberta says, is to ensure any pipeline built connects with the Alberta hub. The governments of the NWT and Alberta signed a similar MOU in 1998.