Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 29/99) - Any pipeline spanning the Mackenzie Valley must be "producer-driven," says William Byrne.

Byrne, Enbridge Pipelines (NWT) Ltd.'s northern region manager said, "When the producers feel all the right conditions are there to warrant getting the product to market, then they'll consider the pipeline."

Byrne spoke last Wednesday at the Geoscience Forum held in Yellowknife.

Byrne's position on who will get the gas to market echoes that of TransCanada PipeLines' northern development vice-president Robert Reid.

Earlier this month, Reid said it will take a consortium of companies to get gas flowing from the Mackenzie Delta south through the valley.

Byrne concluded his presentation at the forum by firing a comment at the Arctic Resources, which is proposing to build a gas pipeline from Alaska's North Slope down the Mackenzie Valley to the U.S.

"Selling junk bonds (to finance Arctic Resources' pipeline) doesn't put a pipeline in the ground," he said. Junk bonds have BB or lower credit ratings. Although commonly used, the term has a pejorative connotation. Junk bond issuers and holders prefer to call them high-yield bonds.

Arctic Resources' representatives were in Yellowknife earlier this month discussing their pipeline proposal with aboriginal leaders.

Asked if Enbridge had plans to propose a pipeline, Byrne said, "We feel with our experience, we're in a position to be a part of any future Northern development."

Enbridge's NWT interests include the Norman Wells pipeline and a share of the Ikhil gas project. The company operates the world's longest crude and liquid pipeline and is Canada's biggest natural gas distributor.