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The Mackenzie Valley Pipeline is a proposed 1220-km natural-gas pipeline running from the Northwest Territories’ Mackenzie Delta (near the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic Circle) to Northern Alberta and connect with existing pipelines, thereby linking to southern markets.
The pipeline project is headed by a consortium of oil companies, including: Imperial Oil, ConocoPhilips Canada, Shell Canada, Exxon Canada and Aboriginal Pipeline Group. The four traditional oil companies have a stake to the three main fields in the Delta region, which contain an approximate 6 trillion cubic feet of discovered natural gas – able to supply all gas-heated homes in Canada for 6 years. Aboriginal Pipeline Group was created to ensure that the interests of the various Aboriginal groups are upheld throughout the project’s lifespan.
The pipeline was originally conceived in the early 1970s, although an initial ten-year moratorium on development along with lengthy land-claim settlements between the Government of Canada and the various Aboriginal communities delayed the project for decades. In March 2007, Imperial Oil announced that the projected cost to construct the pipeline is valued at approximately $16.2 billion with a start date no sooner than 2014.
Location and map of the proposed pipeline
Image Credit: Mackenzie Gas Project
It has been suggested that a proposed rival pipeline which would transport natural gas from the Alaskan north slope at Prudhoe Bay through the Yukon and northern British Columbia could ultimately see the Mackenzie Valley pipeline project shelved. Secondly, the continued decline of sea ice concentrations throughout the Canadian Arctic Archipelago could allow for natural gas to be shipped via double acting tanker and thus create another scenario where the Mackenzie Valley pipeline project is canceled.
As of December 2009, the state of the Mackenzie Valley pipeline is still up in the air as the on-going environmental and socioeconomic impact assessment has not been completed.. | 
