Pipeline assets will attract buyers if feds can complete expansion, experts say
CALGARY — If the federal government manages to overcome strong opposition in British Columbia and complete construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, experts say it will have an asset that will be of great interest to potential buyers.
But, given the level of controversy surrounding construction, that’s a hefty ‘if’.
Experts were also quick to add it’s unlikely Ottawa will succeed if it tries to sell the Trans Mountain assets it is buying from Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd. while the contentious expansion has yet to begin pumping oil.
“The reason for the Kinder sale was that it wasn’t able to get the pipeline built,” said Joseph Doucet, dean of the Alberta School of Business at the University of Alberta.