As clock ticks, doubts grow over Kinder Morgan's Canada oil pipe expansion
VANCOUVER/WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) – As a hard deadline set by Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd for scrapping a key pipeline expansion looms, there is growing doubt among investors, contractors and government officials about reaching a deal to save the C$7.4 billion ($5.7 billion) project. The company, a unit of Houston-based Kinder Morgan Inc , set a May 31 deadline to decide if it will proceed with the expanded line from Edmonton, Alberta to a port in the Vancouver area, which would give landlocked Canadian crude greater access to foreign markets. The project’s fate will create political ripples in Ottawa, where Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have promised the pipeline will be built one way or another, and sway investor confidence in Canada’s oil sands, which already produce far more oil than can move on pipelines.
