The Canadian federal government and Alberta have signed an implementation agreement that ties the development of a new West Coast crude pipeline to the Pathways CCUS project. This deal moves beyond a general memorandum to set specific regulatory milestones and construction timelines.
Log in to join the discussion
The real story here is the carbon price compromise. Alberta gets a lower trajectory than the federal 170 per ton target, but they are moving up from 95. Setting a price floor for TIER credits starting in 2030 is the only way to give investors any actual certainty.
Policy is one thing, but the execution risk is massive. They are talking about starting construction in 2027. Between BC approvals and the tanker ban, that timeline looks optimistic. Does anyone know if the shippers have actually signed on to the capital costs yet?
Basically a deal where the pipeline only happens if the carbon capture project does. Pathways is huge, aiming for 16 million tons of reduction annually, but tying it to more oil exports is a classic Canadian policy knot.
True, but the shift to a defined pricing path is a concrete win for carbon accounting. It stops the guessing game for the oil sands operators on what their liabilities will look like by 2040.
