04/18
For immediaterelease
8 October 2004

National Energy Board receives Mackenzie Gas Project applications

CALGARY - The National Energy Board has received applications for approval to construct and operate a natural gas pipeline and related facilities through the Mackenzie Valley in Canada's Northwest Territories to an interconnect point just south of the border with Alberta.

The application was filed by Imperial Oil Resources Ventures Limited on behalf of five partners seeking to bring natural gas from the Mackenzie Delta to markets in the south. The other four partners are the Aboriginal Pipeline Group, ConocoPhillips (North) Limited, Shell Canada Limited and ExxonMobil Canada Properties.

The pipeline project would be anchored by three onshore natural gas fields known as Taglu, Parsons Lake and Niglintgak, operated by Imperial Oil, ConocoPhillips, and Shell Canada, respectively. Imperial and ConocoPhillips have filed Development Plan applications with the Board; Shell's application has not yet been filed. Imperial Oil has also applied for approval to construct a 176 kilometre (109 mile) gas gathering system to collect the gas from the three fields and deliver it to a processing facility near Inuvik. At the processing facility, natural gas liquids would be separated out. The natural gas would enter the proposed 1 220 kilometre (758 mile) pipeline and the liquids would enter a smaller, parallel pipeline of approximately 475 kilometres (295 miles) that would connect to the Enbridge Pipelines (NW) Inc. pipeline at Norman Wells.

The 762 millimetre (30 inch) natural gas transmission pipeline is planned to transport 34 million cubic metres (1.2 billion cubic feet) per day. The capital cost of the Mackenzie Gas Project is estimated at over $7 billion. It is planned to be in operation by 2009.

The Board will announce its hearing process on these applications at a later date.

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This news release is also available on the Northern Gas Project Secretariat Internet site at www.ngps.nt.ca.

For further information:

Denis Tremblay
Communications Officer
Telephone: 403-299-2717
Toll Free: 1-800-899-1265
Telecopier: 403-292-5503