MNI BRIEF: Carney's Big Project List Has No Oil Pipeline Yet

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday left an oil pipeline off his list of projects to be fast-tracked for final approval over the next two years, at a time when its political backers in Alberta have failed to find a private investor to build one.

The first set of projects includes the LNG Canada Phase II expansion in British Columbia, though that's a project already well under way; the Darlington New Nuclear Project Phase 1 in Ontario, seeking to create "small modular" reactors; expansion of Montreal's port; the McIlvenna Bay Foran Copper Mine in Saskatchewan and the Red Chris copper and gold mine in British Columbia; the "Northwest Critical Conservation Corridor" that would develop critical minerals and power transmission to the Yukon and Alberta, while creating a conservation area the size of Greece.

The government also said it will refer to its new Major Projects Office an Alberta carbon capture project known as Pathways. The project will aid "new growth in the oil sands by  pairing investments in Pathways with a new pipeline to a variety of potential markets," Carney said in prepared remarks. It's unclear whether or when that may lead to any approval, and Carney said a second group of projects for the list will be announced by mid-November.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has started a process to hold a referendum on leaving Canada as soon as next year citing Canada's landlocking of its oil reserves, and she told MNI a big reason investors are hesitant are restrictive federal policies. (See: MNI INTERVIEW: Alberta Says BC Pipeline Must Be Fast-Tracked)