Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 27/00) - As the NWT prepares to lobby for a pipeline, a TransCanada PipeLines executive says the NWT route is definitely in the running.

Currently, there are a handful of possible pipeline routes that companies are considering. The goal is to get Mackenzie Delta and or Alaska North Slope natural gas south to market.

"There's going to be a lot of discussion over what (route) makes the most sense," Steve Woronuik, TransCanada's vice-president of northern development, said.

"We believe (the Mackenzie Valley route) is competitive," he said.

The existing Enbridge Pipelines (NW) Inc. right of way from Norman Wells south is a "key advantage" for those lobbying for the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline, he adds.

Woronuik made the comments during the NWT Chamber of Commerce's annual general meeting held March 17-19 in Norman Wells.

Stephen Bart, Westcoast Energy's northern development director in the business development division, also spoke at the chamber meeting and stressed this project will likely need the efforts of more than one pipeline company.

"We are very much of the view that this should be done by consortium," said Bart. "TransCanada and Westcoast are taking the first step in what we see as a collaborative process."

If there is to be a pipeline, several geographic, regulatory, jurisdictional and political factors could all play a role in which route would be the most economic.

The shortest option -- a 1,760-kilometre natural gas pipeline from the Delta to British Columbia -- would have pipeline capital costs of $3 billion.

A pipeline connecting Alaska's North Slope with British Columbia runs 2,700 kilometres. This route could include a 1,200-kilometre link along the Yukon's Dempster Highway.

Of the various options, the stand-alone Mackenzie route would be the cheapest to build.

But Alaska's North Slope, with 31 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas and 99 trillion cubic feet of ultimate potential, has more natural gas reserves. The Delta has nine trillion cubic feet of proven gas and 64 trillion cubic feet of ultimate natural gas potential, according to TransCanada.

"What offsets the higher costs is higher volumes from Alaska," Woronuik said.

And the Yukon-Alaska route already has most of its regulatory approvals, he added.

Also in the mix is a suggested pipeline along the floor of the Beaufort Sea. This would link Alaska with the Delta. This 480-kilometre piece of the pipeline puzzle carries "significant environmental issues," Woronuik said.

Still another option is to link Alaska to a Mackenzie Valley pipeline with a 940- kilometre land line across the top of the Yukon.

Whatever the outcome, natural gas producers and pipeline companies believe annual demand for natural gas in North America could climb from 25.2 trillion cubic feet to 31.7 cubic feet by 2010.

That, combined with the different lobby groups lining up to get the pipeline they believe will best serve their interests, gives producers and pipeline companies a big playing card when they come to the game. That card is leverage. It remains to be seen which table will have the best hand.