INUVIK - There was no celebration in the streets the day the National Energy Board announced its approval of the Mackenzie Gas Pipeline project, but Inuvik's leaders agree the decision will strengthen the town's economy.

Karla Kuptana holds her copy of the National Energy Board's decision on the Mackenzie Gas Project at the Inuvik Centennial Library on Dec. 16. - Aaron Beswick/NNSL photo

On Dec. 16, the board granted its regulatory approval of the $16.2-billion pipeline - six years after the proponents, led by Imperial Oil, submitted their major application for the project.

"It's a nice early Christmas gift for us," said Inuvik Mayor Denny Rodgers, who said he had anticipated that the board would make a positive recommendation to the federal government.

"We could easily dwell on the past and say this took way too long - and it did - there's no doubt," Rodgers said. "But that's history now. That's behind us so we look to the future."

And in the aftermath of the NEB's approval, Inuvik's future looks bright.

Rodgers said planning for the town's 2011 Petroleum Show - a large annual trade show that brings together oil and gas industry representatives - has been underway for the past couple of months and the town did see "a little bump up" in registration numbers when the decision was first announced.

"We'll see as numbers come in, but I can anticipate that we'll see a little more activity," he said. "It's good for the town. We'll continue to wave the pom-poms and cheerlead, and now we look to the federal government and the consortium to get this deal done - earlier rather than later - in the new year."

The board's approval of the project is dependent on more than 200 conditions being met by the proponents, which include Exxon Mobil Corp, ConocoPhillips and Royal Dutch Shell PLC. The proponents now have to decide if they will go ahead and finance the project.

At first glance, many of those conditions are part of normal procedures for a project such as this, said Inuvialuit Regional Corporation Chair Nellie Cournoyea, whose organization has a stake in the project as part of the Aboriginal Pipeline Group.

Cournoyea said it shouldn't have taken so many years for the NEB to tell companies what they should be doing anyway, but she emphasized that the IRC will do anything it can to see that the pipeline gets built.

Among the requirements is that construction of the 1,200-kilometre pipeline begin by the end of 2015.

Pius Rolheiser, spokesperson for Imperial Oil, said meeting that deadline could prove difficult if a positive fiscal agreement with the federal government is not in place.

"We would need to have sufficient confidence in a fiscal agreement with the federal government before we could make a decision to restaff the project and resume engineering work, permitting work," said Rolheiser.

That work will take three years to complete, with several thousand permits needed before construction can begin. Imperial Oil previously requested to have until 2016 to decide whether to proceed with building the pipeline.

The board's decision calls for the proponents "to file an updated cost estimate and report on their decision to build the pipeline" by the end of 2013.

Whether that clause means the proponents must update the board on the progress the project is making - or whether it means Imperial Oil and others must decide to construct the pipeline in 2013 - is still unclear.

"It's vague enough that you can interpret it either way," said John Hogg, vice-president of exploration and operations for MGM Energy.

"With three of us in the office, there was 66 per cent saying, 'We felt they meant that (the NEB) were just to report back on how they were doing.' But other people believe that means they have to tell them in 2013."

Sarah Kiley, a spokesperson for the National Energy Board, said the report speaks for itself - and the board can't clarify what it wrote.

"...the panel is now (defunct), so I couldn't even ask them..." said Kiley.

The proponents must now decide if they will go ahead and finance the project.

"I'm elated, of course, that it's a go," said O.D. Hansen, manager of communications for the Aboriginal Pipeline Group. The group stands to distribute one-third of the pipeline's profits among the NWT aboriginal groups whose territory falls along the pipeline's path.

"Usually when you get a permit, (the reaction) should be one of unbridled joy because it's a signal to go ahead," added Hansen.

But that isn't the case with the pipeline, he said, "because of some of the issues - low (natural gas) prices being one of them - and because we need some type of fiscal framework agreement with the federal government to ensure that this project is economical."

- with files from Aaron Beswick

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.