FREDERICTON – New Brunswick Premier David Alward heads to Alberta on Sunday for three days of meetings that he hopes will advance a proposal for a west-east oil pipeline.
Alward has meetings scheduled with Alberta Premier Alison Redford as well as officials in the oil and pipeline industries.
He says a pipeline that could deliver western crude to the Irving refinery in Saint John, N.B., would be good for the entire country, and a boost to his province’s faltering economy.
TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP) has proposed converting an existing natural gas pipeline to get western crude as far as Quebec, and possibly extending the line to New Brunswick.
Company spokesman Shawn Howard says they would need to have long-term contracts signed with oil producers and refiners before any decision is made to proceed.
He says the federal and provincial governments can help by ensuring there is a fair and transparent regulatory process for the potential project.