The chief executive ofCanada's Suncor Energy Inc said on Wednesday he expectedPrime Minister Justin Trudeau to move in the "next few weeks" toensure that Kinder Morgan Canada's Trans Mountain oilpipeline expansion goes ahead.
Steve Williams would not say what exactly he expectedTrudeau to do to guarantee the C$7.4 billion ($5.8 billion)project gets built, but told reporters he was encouraged by along conversation he had with the prime minister last month. "I'm encouraged by the comments they've made, but theproviso I put on it is that we've got to see these plans rollout that they've been working on and I think we see that overthe next few weeks," Williams said. Kinder Morgan paused work last month on the Trans Mountainexpansion, citing opposition in British Columbia, and said thecompany would decide by May 31 whether to go ahead with theproject, which would nearly triple capacity on an existing linefrom Alberta to British Columbia's coast. Both Alberta and the federal government have pledged supportto the project, including financial backing. Trudeau's Liberal government has also said it will assertits jurisdiction, even as British Columbia has gone to court toattempt to prove its right to block increased crude shipmentswest. Williams said earlier on Wednesday that Suncor's currentgrowth plan was not constrained by pipeline bottlenecks but thatthe Calgary-based company did not expect to make any furthermajor investments in the oil sands until market access improves. "We have existing pipeline access to accommodate all of ouroil sands production," he said. Canadian energy producers are struggling as increased oilsands output has run up against a lack of new export pipelinesand tight rail capacity, sending the differential betweenCanadian oil prices and the U.S. crude benchmark tomulti-year highs. Suncor said that while the discount that Canadian producersface nearly doubled in the first quarter compared with lastyear's quarter, it had no impact on the company's earnings orcash flow, as low crude prices were offset by better midstreamand downstream returns. Williams said he was confident that both the Trans Mountainexpansion and Enbridge Inc's Line 3 replacement, alongwith others moving crude south, would move ahead. "I don't think in the last five years I've had a higherdegree of confidence that these lines are going to be built," hesaid. "So I'm greatly encouraged." Suncor shares were up 0.66 percent at C$49.19 on Wednesdayafternoon. (Reporting by Julie Gordon in Calgary; Editing by MargueritaChoy and Peter Cooney)