SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - All four offices of the Northern Gas Project Secretariat will permanently close later his month, said its executive director.

The four offices of the Northern Gas Project Secretariat, including this one in Yellowknife, will close permanently at the end of the month. - Jeanne Gagnon/NNSL photo

Brian Chambers confirmed by e-mail seven employees – five full-time and two part-time - will be affected by the closure of the secretariat's offices in Yellowknife, Inuvik, Norman Wells and Fort Simpson at the end of April. The secretariat has four employees in Yellowknife, and one each in Inuvik, Norman Wells and Fort Simpson.

"There are no plans to re-open these offices," he said.

As for the reason for the closure, Chambers directed all enquiries to the Mackenzie Gas Project office at the department of Indian and Northern Affairs. A spokesperson at the office said no comment would be made before press time.

The secretariat supports the environmental and regulatory agencies that review the Mackenzie Gas Project, especially those agencies which must hold public hearings, according to information posted on the secretariat's website.

The Mackenzie Gas Project will begin operations in 2018 at the earliest, pushing back construction of the $16.2 billion pipeline to sometime after 2013, Imperial Oil and its pipeline partners announced last month.

In March 2007, Imperial Oil had told the National Energy Board the earliest the pipeline could start up was 2014.

In their latest submission, the proponents cited regulatory delays, lack of a fiscal agreement, project restaffing requirements and seasonal constraints as the primary reasons for the project's four-year delay.

"We continue to be committed to the project. We're working diligently on a number of fronts, including the completion and conclusion of the regulatory process," said Imperial Oil spokesman Pius Rolheiser.

With files from Guy Quenneville