(Reuters) -A new oil pipeline to the British Columbia coast is highly likely to be included on a list of projects deemed to be of national importance to the Canadian government, Prime Minister Mark Carney told the Calgary Herald newspaper in an interview published on Sunday.
“I would think given the scale of the economic opportunity, the resources we have, the expertise we have, that it is highly, highly likely that we will have an oil pipeline that is a proposal for one of these projects of national interest,” Carney said in a Saturday interview.
The prime minister said that it would be up to the private sector to make the proposal, rather than a “top-down approach” from the government, saying “we want this, we want that.”
Carney, who was attending the annual Calgary Stampede, also said that he supported a proposed C$16.5 billion ($12.14 billion) carbon capture system for Alberta’s oil sands to merit a spot in the list of projects.
Carney’s comments come weeks after Canada’s Senate passed a bill to fast-track approval for natural resource and infrastructure projects. The bill speeds up approval of projects deemed of national interest, potentially including mines and oil pipelines, and eliminates some trade barriers between provinces.
Canada is the world’s fourth largest oil exporter. The oil and gas initiatives being put on the list come as Canada is trying to wean itself from economic dependence on the United States, where it sends some 75% of its exports.
($1 = 1.3593 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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