Canada to fast-track oil pipeline permitting

The leaders of Canada’s provinces are working toward a national energy agreement that would take a number of steps aimed at increasing oil pipelines in the country.

The Globe and Mail, which obtained a confidential draft of the pact that provincial premiers have been working on for three years, reported that they want to cut red tape for pipeline approvals and speed regulatory decisions. The group is planning to make the agreement final Wednesday.

{mosads}But while the leaders set out in 2012 to include strategies climate change as one of the priorities in the deal, the draft has few details on such commitments.

In fact, a proposed section that would call on each province to set greenhouse gas reduction goals has been marked for possible exclusion, the Globe and Mail said.

The agreement comes as the Alberta-centered oil sands industry is fighting to improve pipeline infrastructure to sell its products, including the Keystone XL to the United States and less well-known pipelines, like Energy East and Northern Gateway.

The draft document says the premiers agree to “develop and enhance … transportation networks,” including oil pipelines and electric grids, according to the Globe and Mail.

“As energy production expands to meet growing domestic and international energy demands, our country must have the necessary pipelines, electricity systems and other energy infrastructure in place to move energy products to the people that need them,” it says.

Another part calls on provinces and territories to “improve the timeliness and certainty of each jurisdiction’s regulatory approval decision-making processes.”