Canada changing Trans Mountain ownership rules to make pipeline sale easier

May 22 (Reuters) – Canada is changing rules governing the management of the state-owned Trans Mountain oil pipeline to make it easier to sell it to indigenous groups, according to an official government notice released on Wednesday.

The long-delayed Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMEP) nearly triples Alberta crude shipments to Canada’s Pacific Coast to 890,000 barrels per day and began commercial operations on May 1, with the first tanker scheduled to load later that month.

The C$34 billion ($24.88 billion) project, which cost more than four times its original budget, was purchased by the Liberal government in 2018 to ensure construction could continue.

Ottawa plans to sell the pipeline once it’s completed and allow indigenous communities along the route to buy shares.

The changes will allow Canada Development Investment Corporation (CDEV), the crown corporation that owns Trans Mountain, to conduct certain transactions, such as establishing new subsidiaries, without requiring approval from senior ministers, according to a notice in the government’s official Canada Gazette newspaper. .

These subsidiaries could be used to promote spot pipeline performance, expand insurance coverage, and create a special purpose acquisition company that would allow individual indigenous communities to purchase the pipeline.

“It is essential that CDEV and its TMEP-affiliated subsidiaries are given the tools to operate as quickly as their peers in the competitive energy sector, without having to seek GIC (Governor in Council) approval for every single transaction,” the notice posted in the Gazette. . ($1 = 1.3667 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

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Posted: May 22, 2024 11:17 PM ET