N.W.T. industry minister touts ‘made in the North’ oil pipeline alternative

CALGARY – The Northwest Territories is promoting the idea of a “made-in-the-North” oil pipeline as a means to get Canadian crude to international markets.

Unlike in British Columbia, where opposition to West Coast oil pipelines has been fierce, the territory’s industry minister believes aboriginal communities would be on board.

David Ramsay says a pipeline could transport Alberta crude through the Northwest Territories and the Yukon to Alaska, where it could be shipped to Asia on tankers.

Ramsay ran the idea by Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell last week at a conference in Houston, and got the message that the state would be interested.

Alberta is studying the idea’s viability, and Ramsay believes the Yukon would support it, too.

Enbridge Inc. — one of the companies planning a B.C. pipeline —already has a pipeline that runs from Norman Wells, Alta., to Zama, Alta., but CEO Al Monaco says the company isn’t looking at a northern option for Alberta crude.