by Morinville News Staff
The Government of Alberta announced a $1.5 billion government investment in the Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline Tuesday, a move the province says will accelerate construction to have the line operational by 2023.
The agreement, which has taken six months of negotiations, between the Government of Alberta and Calgary-based TC Energy Corporation begins Apr. 1 and will include $1.5 billion in equity investment in 2020, followed by a $6 billion loan guarantee in the following year.
The province anticipates the project will create more than 1,400 direct and 5,400 indirect jobs in Alberta during construction, generating an estimated $30 billion in tax and royalty revenues.
“We cannot wait for the end of the pandemic and the global recession to act. There are steps we must make now to build our future focussed on jobs, the economy, and pipelines,” Premier Jason Kenney said in a media release Tuesday. “Today we are moving forward with a project that is essential to our future prosperity. This investment in Keystone XL is a bold move to re-take control of our province’s economic destiny and put it firmly back in the hands of the owners of our natural resources, the people of Alberta. The Government of Alberta is confident that this is a wise investment. After construction is complete, we will be able to sell our shares at profit. In addition, the project will have a net return of over $30 billion to the Alberta taxpayer through royalties and higher prices for Alberta oil in the next 20 years.”
The pipeline, when operational, will carry approximately 830,000 barrels per day of Alberta crude, which the province says will “significantly increasing the province’s takeaway capacity and [help] to protect the value of its energy resources.”
Construction is set to begin immediately in Alberta, at the Canada-US border, in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska.
7000 temporary jobs while 22,000 lose their’s. Oil is a dying commodity and is worth less than a Happy Meal.
This government is an absolute joke. No money for healthcare, education, or help for people struggling… But they sure found $1.5 Billion for their Petrosexual friends quickly. In top of the $4.7 they already gave them.
Dustan McLean I agree. The Conservative governments didn’t learn from the 80s when I watched family lose not 1 but 2 houses to the the oil market instability. Now they want to invest everything in hopes of another boom like the 90-10. We all be frigged.
Dustan McLean
How do you suggest they help people who are struggling? Handouts? Or jobs?
What alternative source of revenue do you suggest they tap into to fund healthcare and education?
When you are a Provincial Government sitting on the 3rd largest oil reserve in the world, where would you invest money to create jobs??
Derek Brush you for real? How about social assistance instead of corporate welfare? How about, we were transitioning to other sectors like the rest of the world? Nope. Most Albertans were too stupid to understand a tax. Now we’re stuck with a Petrosexual premier who’s handing money to big oil while people like you turn a blind eye. These will all be temporary jobs. How does that help? How does it help selling a product that’s almost worthless? Why does this need to be do at the expense of so many others.
Did you vote UCP? Then you’re a bigger failure than this incel run government. Slow. Clap.
How the hell can Kenney even say he supports privatization when he just seems to be getting taxpayers to foot the bill for anything oil and gas that comes across his desk. For how much we pay, we should just have a crown corporation.