Canada’s National Energy Board said that the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline and Mackenzie gathering system are still in the public interest, and it will vary their sunset clauses to Dec. 31, 2022. On June 2, the NEB said the projects’ original conditions require environmentally safe design, operation and construction.

The Mackenzie Valley Pipeline’s sunset clause extension will not go into effect until it is approved by Canada’s federal government, the NEB added.

Extending the sunset clauses will allow natural gas markets to recover economically, providing future economic opportunities. The entire Mackenzie gas project would develop three natural gas fields in and near the Mackenzie Delta, and transport the gas and NGL to southern markets via a total of 1,842 kilometers of pipelines.

Imperial Oil Resources Ventures Ltd. applied to the NEB to extend the sunset clauses on Aug. 20, 2015. On Nov 9, 2015, they were extended to Sept. 30, 2015, so the application could be considered.

As a result of devolution, the Government of the Northwest Territories Regulator of Oil and Gas Operations (OROGO) assumed responsibility for regulating onshore oil and gas activities in the territories, outside of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, and now regulates a portion of the Mackenzie gathering system.

NEB and OROGO coordinated their respective reviews and invited the public to submit their comments on the requested extensions in November. NEB received comments from 14 groups and individuals, mostly supporting the application, but four of the parties opposed the extension.