09 September, 2017
"The suspension will give us time to conduct a thorough examination of the recent changes announced by the NEB on the list of problems and factors in environmental assessment of projects, while understanding how these changes affect the cost, timing and viability of the projects", wrote TransCanada, in a statement.
TransCanada said on Thursday it may abandon the proposed 1.1 million barrel per day pipeline - from Alberta to New Brunswick - following a decision by the National Energy Board in August to look at upstream and downstream carbon emissions when deciding whether the project is in the public interest. It also applies to the smaller Eastern Mainline project review.
The NEB stated on its website and by Twitter that it has received TransCanada's request, and are reviewing the request and will release an answer publicly in a "timely manner".
It is the latest blow to a project that Canada's oil industry says is needed to bring oil sands crude to overseas markets and avoid deep discounts on Canadian barrels that eat into revenue for producers already struggling with low prices.
Assessing indirect emissions had been opposed by TransCanada, which had called it "completely redundant and unnecessary".
A decision to scrap the projects will negatively impact its ability to recover development costs spent till date, stated the energy company.
In a filing to the regulator on Thursday, TransCanada also requested an extension to the deadline for filing Energy East updates to October 27.
TransCanada said it will continue to advance its other projects despite pausing Energy East.
At the start of this year, the regulator canceled all decisions the panel had made over the last two years and appointed a new one.
Dirk Lever, an energy infrastructure analyst at AltaCorp Capital in Calgary, said: "What they want to do is halt the clock on it, and I can't say I am surprised".
NEB hearings on Energy East were suspended past year amid protests in Quebec because two board members met privately with former Quebec premier Jean Charest while he was consulting for TransCanada.
While TransCanada faces new delays on Energy East, the company is awaiting final approvals from Nebraska on its Keystone XL pipeline, which would ship oilsands crude from Alberta directly to the U.S. Gulf Coast.
