CALGARY — The Alberta government is set to announce that it is proposing a southern route for its new one-million-barrel-a-day crude oil pipeline to the West Coast.Multiple sources close to the matter have told the Globe and Mail that Alberta has relented on the idea of a conduit to the Pacific located on BC's northern coast and will be proposing the southern route in the plan that it is submitting to the federal Major Projects Office (MPO).Originally, Premier Danielle Smith’s government said it was considering multiple routes to the northern BC coast, as well as various ideas for the location of a marine terminal.Smith herself has said she preferred a northern export location because it offered shorter sailing times to the Asian market compared to a terminal based near the Vancouver area, and because the water was also deep enough to enable access for large oil tankers that are favoured for carrying crude oil over long distances.The news comes after Prime Minister Mark Carney and BC Premier David Eby announced earlier Thursday that the northern tanker ban will still be maintained under a new major projects agreement between Ottawa and BC that is also advancing billions of dollars in infrastructure and resource development for that province..Smith government to submit West Coast pipeline proposal without private-sector proponent.“Today’s Canada-BC agreement also commits to maintaining the federal North Coast tanker ban, in accordance with the proposed route of a new trans-provincial pipeline under the bilateral agreement between Canada and Alberta,” Carney told reporters on Thursday.The ban, as well as numerous environmental challenges and protests from First Nations groups, prompted the Liberal government to try to persuade Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to consider building a pipeline that largely follows the right-of-way for the Trans Mountain Pipeline from Edmonton to southern BC.Carney was asked multiple questions regarding the proposal during his conference with Eby but remained tight-lipped, saying the details would be made clear later in the day when he appeared with Smith in Calgary.Smith was expected to originally make a “major announcement” regarding the proposal Thursday morning, but it was announced late Wednesday night, without explanation, that the event was postponed.Carney and the premier are now set to make a joint announcement on Thursday night.
