Confidential documents obtained by CBC News show Alberta has mapped at least four distinct pipeline routes through British Columbia for its proposed one million barrel per day oil export corridor. Every port option under consideration sits inside the federal oil tanker moratorium zone.
Community leaders are said to have been shown the documents during private consultations in spring. The routes trace paths from Alberta’s oilsands producing regions to the B.C. coast, with port options stretching from the Vancouver area to B.C.’s northernmost shoreline.
One northern route begins near Fort McMurray, runs west to Fort St. John, and terminates near Observatory Inlet, a remote location that is one of BC’s northernmost ports.
Two other routes start near Fort Saskatchewan, with one following the failed Northern Gateway project path, while the other turns north past Tumber Ridge and ends in the Nasoga Gulf.
Alberta is also said to be examining a fourth route through southern B.C. with a port near Vancouver. Stewart and Grassy Point, both near the province’s northern tip, round out the five port locations under consideration.
Alberta is targeting a July 1 submission to the federal Major Projects Office, with construction potentially beginning as early as 2027.
In more recent consultations, officials are said to have shifted to showing a general corridor rather than the specific routes detailed in the spring documents. That general corridor could form the basis of Alberta’s July 1 submission, with a precise route and port selected later.
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