Premier Danielle Smith says Alberta looking to entice private-sector pipeline builder [Video]

The Alberta government is working to entice a private-sector player to build a major crude pipeline to coastal waters, Premier Danielle Smith said Wednesday.

“We’re talking to all of the pipeline proponents; anyone who has had success in building a pipeline in Canada and has an interest in perhaps coming together as a consortium — or if one emerges as being a principal proponent, then we’ll be interested in talking to them, too,” Smith told reporters following a speech to the Global Energy Show in Calgary.

“But we know that it’s a chicken and egg problem, that no one’s going to come forward with a project without some guarantee that it is going to be approved.”

Alberta could help the project along by committing barrels of physical bitumen received in lieu of cash royalties from oilsands producers, Smith said.

She has been enthusiastic about reviving a plan to ship oilsands …