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Alberta

With a boost of up to $200 million from the Province, Inter Pipeline Ltd. investing $600 million in new petrochemical plant east of Edmonton

Published

6 years ago

9 minute read

Premier Notley announces private investment in a new petrochemical upgrading facility alongside David Chappell (r), Patrick Bergen and Pyramid Prefab Piping staff.

From the Province of Alberta

Made-in-Alberta plan attracts new jobs, investment

Alberta is taking a significant step forward on a more diversified economy with a project that supports hundreds of jobs and adds more value to our energy resources.

If the plan is finalized, Inter Pipeline Ltd. would invest about $600 million in a new petrochemical upgrading facility that would produce more valuable consumer products derived from propane, including acrylic acid that is used in many everyday consumer products. This major private investment is unlocked by support from Premier Rachel Notley’s Made-in-Alberta energy diversification strategy.

The project would build on the company’s supply and knowledge of propylene, a product it already produces at the company’s other petrochemical facilities east of Edmonton. Construction would create about 600 jobs with another 50 long-term positions supporting the local economy once the facility is fully up and running.

“For decades, Albertans settled for less while new jobs and investment went south of the border. So we’re grabbing the bull by the horns, fighting for a Made-in-Alberta plan that represents the single largest energy diversification effort since the days of Peter Lougheed. We’re proud to support upgrading projects like Inter Pipeline’s because they mean more good jobs and top dollar for the energy resources that belong to all Albertans.”

Rachel Notley, Premier

Inter Pipeline’s supply of propylene, a gas that results from adding value to raw propane, creates the opportunity to further leverage Alberta’s natural resource strengths and extend the value chain. By producing acrylic acid used in things like adhesives, floor polishes and paints, this project increases the likelihood of attracting investments in more manufacturing facilities in the future.

“Alberta’s abundance of natural resources has positioned Inter Pipeline to invest in opportunities like this that build on our strengths to extend the value chain and make products that are in demand around the world. We want to commend this government for fostering the environment for companies like ours to grow and create jobs, while competitively positioning our business in the world market.”

David Chappell, senior vice-president, Petrochemical Development, Inter Pipeline Ltd.

The announcement was made at Pyramid Prefab Piping, one of the hundreds of companies across the province benefiting from the Made-in-Alberta strategy. As a manufacturer that employs about 45 people in Calgary, Pyramid was contracted to build key components for Inter Pipeline’s project already under construction.

“We’re pleased to see the government’s vision for the future is focused on jobs and diversification, which will lead to more work for companies like ours to build the components needed for energy upgrading projects. This growth means we can put even more skilled tradespeople to work in the Calgary region and contribute even more to the oil and gas sector.”

Patrick Bergen, president, Pyramid Prefab Piping

If finalized by Inter Pipeline, the private investment would be unlocked by provincial support of up to $70 million in future royalty credits under the Petrochemicals Diversification Program, which was first developed in early 2016.

Quick facts

  • Inter Pipeline’s acrylic acid and propylene derivatives facility would be in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland, northeast of Edmonton. Construction is expected to begin in 2021.
  • The facility would convert 60,000 tonnes per year of propylene and produce 80,000 tonnes per year of propylene derivatives, including acrylic acid, when operational.
  • Acrylic acid is a value-added product used to make coatings, adhesives, diapers, floor polishes and paints.
  • Roughly 50 skilled, local permanent jobs and 600 skilled trade construction jobs would be created.
  • Inter Pipeline has already been approved to receive up to $200 million in future royalty credits from the first round of the Petrochemicals Diversification Program for the construction its $3.5-billion Heartland Petrochemical Complex.

Background

Made-in-Alberta energy strategy

  • Premier Notley’s government is investing $3 billion to support energy diversification that creates jobs and adds value to our resources here at home.
  • The focus is on two key areas: partial upgrading of our bitumen and petrochemical processing that adds value to natural gas and natural gas liquids.
  • Overall, this commitment is expected to attract more than $25 billion in private-sector investment to Alberta and create more than 20,000 jobs.

Petrochemical upgrading

  • Support for the Inter Pipeline facility is provided under the petrochemical portion of the Made-in-Alberta strategy.
  • Two projects – owned by the Canada-Kuwait Petrochemical Corporation and Inter Pipeline Ltd. – were selected under the first round of this program, which was announced in 2016. The projects combined for $8 billion in private investment, creating more than 5,000 jobs.
  • The government announced a second round of support for petrochemical upgrading in 2018.
    • Nauticol’s methanol facility was previously selected under the second round of this program. The entire project is a $2-billion private investment in a plant near Grande Prairie, creating roughly 3,000 direct and indirect jobs.
  • Albertans and Canadians use dozens of products every day that are based in part on petrochemicals like those from Alberta’s growing value-added industry including:
    • polyester fabric couches, HD televisions, phones coffeemakers and computers
    • car tires, engine hoses, gas, oil, radio components and seats
    • desks, chairs, computers, carpets, cellphones and other office supplies

Partial upgrading of bitumen

  • $1 billion in grants and loan guarantees to encourage companies to invest in new or expanded bitumen-upgrading facilities.
  • Partial upgrading reduces the thickness of oil sands bitumen so it can flow through pipelines more easily, without having to be blended with diluent or as much diluent, a thinning agent. Benefits include:
    • increased prices for our resources before shipping
    • up to 30 per cent more capacity on existing pipelines
    • more world refineries capable of processing our product
    • cost savings on diluent for industry
    • fewer emissions by removing high carbon content

Energy diversification timeline

  • January 2016 – Royalty Review Advisory Panel recommended more value-add within the province, including partial upgrading
  • February 2016 – Petrochemicals Diversification Program (PDP) introduced
  • October 2016 – Energy Diversification Advisory Committee (EDAC) formed
  • December 2016 – First PDP projects awarded
  • December 2017 – Inter Pipeline finalized investment in petrochemical project
  • February 2018 – EDAC reported back, including recommendation of partial upgrading, more PDP and additional support for petrochemical feedstock infrastructure
  • March 2018 – Government launched programs through the Energy Diversification Act
  • Fall 2018 – oil price differential hit crisis point. In response, government took several actions:
    • Temporary limit on oil production
    • Doubled support for PDP
    • Began crude-by-rail negotiations
    • Appointed LNG Investment Team
    • Request for industry interest in building refining capacity
  • January 2019 – Government announced letter of intent for first partial upgrading project awarded (Value Creation Inc.)
  • February 2019 – Canada-Kuwait Petrochemical Corporation  finalized investment in petrochemical project
  • February 2019 – Premier announced crude-by-rail agreements
  • February 2019 – Nauticol awarded first project under second round of PDP
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After 15 years as a TV reporter with Global and CBC and as news director of RDTV in Red Deer, Duane set out on his own 2008 as a visual storyteller. During this period, he became fascinated with a burgeoning online world and how it could better serve local communities. This fascination led to Todayville, launched in 2016.

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Alberta

Preston Manning: Canada is in a unity crisis

Published on April 30, 2025

By

Preston Manning's avatar Preston Manning

A Canada West Assembly would investigate why

The election of a minority Liberal government on Monday, and the strong showing of the Conservative party under Pierre Poilievre, cannot mask the fact that Canada remains seriously fractured on many fronts. Thus, one of the primary tasks of the Carney government will be to unite us for the sake of our own national well-being — not simply for the sake of presenting a strong front in future dealings with the United States.

But how is that to be done? When parliament meets as scheduled on May 26, will the government’s throne speech acknowledge the main sources of national disunity and propose the immediate adoption of remedial measures? Or will it ignore the problem entirely, which will serve to further alienate Quebec and the West from Ottawa and the rest of Canada, and weaken Canada’s bargaining position vis a vis the United States?

The principal tactic employed by the Liberal party to unite Canadians behind it in the recent election was to employ the politics of fear — fear of U.S. President Donald Trump trying to “break us so that America can own us,” as Liberal Leader Mark Carney has repeatedly said.

But if the only way to unite Canadians is through the promotion of anti-Americanism fostered by fear of some alleged American takeover — if reaction to the erratic musings of an American president is the only way to motivate more Canadians to vote in a federal election — then not only national unity, but Canadian democracy itself, is in critical condition.

We need to pinpoint what actually is fracturing the country, because if we can clearly define that, we can begin the process of removing those divisive elements to the largest extent possible. Carney and the Liberals will of course declare that it is separatist agitations in Quebec and now the West that is dividing us, but these are simply symptoms of the problem, not the cause.

Here, then, is a partial list of what underpins the division and disunity in this country and, more importantly, of some positive, achievable actions we can take to reduce or eliminate them.

First and foremost is the failure to recognize and accommodate the regional character of this country. Canada is the second-largest country by area on the planet and is characterized by huge geographic regions — the Atlantic, Central Canada, the Prairies, the Pacific Coast and the Northern territories.

Each of these regions — not just Quebec — has its own “distinctive” concerns and aspirations, which must be officially recognized and addressed by the federal government if the country is to be truly united. The previous Liberal government consistently failed to do this, particularly with respect to the Prairies, Pacific and Northern regions, which is the root of much of the alienation that even stimulates talk of western separation.

Second is Ottawa’s failure to recognize and treat the natural resources sector as a fundamental building block of our national economy — not as a relic from the past or an environmental liability, as it was regarded by the government of former prime minister Justin Trudeau.

Will the throne speech announce another 180-degree turn for the Liberal government: the explicit recognition that the great engine of the Canadian economy and our economic recovery is not the federal government, as Carney has implied, but Canada’s agricultural, energy, mining, forestry and fishery sectors, with all the processing, servicing, manufacturing and knowledge sectors that are built upon them?

A third issue we’ve been plagued with is the division of Canadian society based on race, gender, sexual preferences and other identity traits, rather than focusing on the things that unite us as a nation, such as the equality of all under the law. Many private-sector entities are beginning to see the folly of pursuing identity initiatives such as diversity, equity and inclusion that divide rather than unite, but will the Liberal government follow suit and will that intention be made crystal clear in the upcoming throne speech?

A final issue is the federal government’s intrusion into areas of provincial jurisdiction — such as natural resources, health, municipal governance, along with property and civil rights — which is the principal cause of tension and conflict between the federal and provincial governments.

The solution is to pass a federal “act respecting provincial jurisdiction” to repeal or amend the statutes that authorize federal intrusions, so as to eliminate, or at least reduce, their intrusiveness. Coincidentally, this would be a legislative measure that both the Conservatives and the Bloc could unite behind if such a statute were to be one of the first pieces of legislation introduced by the Carney government.

Polling is currently being done to ascertain whether the election of yet another Liberal government has increased the growing estrangement of western Canada from Ottawa and the rest of Canada, notwithstanding Carney’s assurances that his minority government will change its policies on climate change, pipelines, immigration, deficit spending and other distinguishing characteristics of the discredited Trudeau government.

The first test of the truthfulness of those assurances will come via the speech from the throne and the follow-up actions of the federal government.

Meanwhile, consultations are being held on the merits and means of organizing a “Canada West Assembly” to provide a democratic forum for the presentation, analysis and debate of the options facing western Canada (not just Alberta) — from acceptance of a fairer and stronger position within the federation based on guarantees from the federal government, to various independence-oriented proposals, with votes to be taken on the various options and recommendations to be made to the affected provincial governments.

Only time will tell whether the newly elected Carney government chooses to address the root causes of national disunity. But whether it does so or not will influence the direction in which the western provinces and the proposed Canada West Assembly will point.

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Alberta

Premier Danielle Smith hints Alberta may begin ‘path’ toward greater autonomy after Mark Carney’s win

Published on April 30, 2025

By

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Alberta’s premier said her government will be holding a special caucus meeting on Friday to discuss Alberta’s independence.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith hinted her province could soon consider taking serious steps toward greater autonomy from Canada in light of Mark Carney and the Liberal Party winning yesterday’s federal election.

In a statement posted to her social media channels today, Smith, who is head of Alberta’s governing United Conservative Party, warned that “In the weeks and months ahead, Albertans will have an opportunity to discuss our province’s future, assess various options for strengthening and protecting our province against future hostile acts from Ottawa, and to ultimately choose a path forward.”

“As Premier, I will facilitate and lead this discussion and process with the sincere hope of securing a prosperous future for our province within a united Canada that respects our province’s constitutional rights, facilitates rather than blocks the development and export of our abundant resources, and treats us as a valued and respected partner within confederation,” she noted.

While Smith stopped short of saying that Alberta would consider triggering a referendum on independence from Canada, she did say her government will be holding a “special caucus meeting this Friday to discuss this matter further.”

“I will have more to say after that meeting is concluded,” she noted.

Smith’s warning comes at the same time some pre-election polls have shown Alberta’s independence from Canada sentiment at just over 30 percent.

Monday’s election saw Liberal leader Mark Carney beat out Conservative rival Pierre Poilievre, who also lost his seat. The Conservatives managed to pick up over 20 new seats, however, and Poilievre has vowed to stay on as party leader, for now.

In Alberta, almost all of the seats save two at press time went to conservatives.

Carney, like former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before him, said he is opposed to new pipeline projects that would allow Alberta oil and gas to be unleashed. Also, his green agenda, like Trudeau’s, is at odds with Alberta’s main economic driver, its oil and gas industry.

The Carney government has also pledged to mandate that all new cars and trucks by 2035 be electric, effectively banning the sale of new gasoline- or diesel-only powered vehicles after that year.

The reduction and eventual elimination of the use of so-called “fossil fuels” and a transition to unreliable “green” energy has also been pushed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) – the globalist group behind the socialist “Great Reset” agenda – an organization in which Trudeau and some of his cabinet are involved.

Smith: ‘I will not permit the status quo to continue’

In her statement, Smith noted that she invited Carney to “immediately commence working with our government to reset the relationship between Ottawa and Alberta with meaningful action rather than hollow rhetoric.”

She noted that a large majority of Albertans are “deeply frustrated that the same government that overtly attacked our provincial economy almost unabated for the past 10 years has been returned to government.”

Smith then promised that she would “not permit the status quo to continue.”

“Albertans are proud Canadians that want this nation to be strong, prosperous, and united, but we will no longer tolerate having our industries threatened and our resources landlocked by Ottawa,” she said.

Smith praised Poilievre for empowering “Albertans and our energy sector as a cornerstone of his campaign.”

Smith was against forced COVID jabs, and her United Conservative government has in recent months banned men from competing in women’s sports and passed a bill banning so-called “top and bottom” surgeries for minors as well as other extreme forms of transgender ideology.

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