Energy, Mines, and Resources

Pipelines and Transportation Infrastructure

  • Pipelines
    • Existing Pipeline: Pointed Mountain Pipeline
    • Proposed Pipelines
    • Northern Natural Gas Pipeline Options (map)
    • Alaska Highway Pipeline Project
    • Mackenzie Gas Project
  • Transportation and Infrastructure
    • Air Travel
    • Roads and Highways
    • Freight/Courier Service
    • Passenger Services
    • Rail System

Pipelines

There is a great deal of interest in Yukon’s oil and gas prospects. However, investment spending to date has been modest. A dramatic increase in oil and gas investment is anticipated once construction is announced of the Mackenzie Gas Project (MGP) or the Alaska Highway Pipeline Project (AHPP).

The Yukon Government supports the construction of both the AHPP and the MGP, and believes northern natural gas will be needed to supply growing demand. Yukon is preparing for the opportunities and benefits of both pipeline developments.

The following summarizes existing and proposed pipelines which will be of interest to oil and gas companies wanting to invest in Yukon.

 

Existing Pipeline: Pointed Mountain Pipeline

The Duke Energy Gas Transmission Pointed Mountain Pipeline currently serves the southeast Yukon. It originates in the southwestern Northwest Territories and gathers raw natural gas at the Kotaneelee facility in southeast Yukon for processing in Fort Nelson, B.C..

 

Proposed Pipelines

Two major pipeline projects (the MGP and the AHPP) are being proposed to transport natural gas from the Mackenzie Delta and Prudhoe Bay, respectively, to southern markets. While not being actively pursued at this time, the Dempster Lateral, which would move northern Canadian gas into the Alaska Highway pipeline, remains an option to ensure that Yukon gas is not stranded.

The Yukon Government has prepared a pipeline strategy for both the AHPP and MGP, and has identified seven key Yukon interests:

  • Fiscal advantage
  • Social investment
  • A clear, efficient Canadian regulatory process
  • Environmental stewardship
  • Community and First Nations interests
  • Connecting Yukon natural gas
  • Access to energy from pipelines

 

Northern Natural Gas Pipeline Options Map

 

Alaska Highway Pipeline Project

The original AHPP was awarded Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity under the Northern Pipeline Act in Canada and by the Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Act in the United States in the late 1970s. Southern portions of the project, called the pre-build, were constructed in parts of Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan in the 1980s and 1990s. Construction of the northern portion of the pipeline would complete the project.

Current proposals call for the construction of a pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Fairbanks along the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System right of way, from Fairbanks along the Alaska Highway corridor in Yukon and then through B.C. into Alberta. The project would deliver between 4.5 Bcf and 5.6 Bcf of gas per day to southern markets.

The Alaska Highway Aboriginal Pipeline Coalition (AHAPC), initiated in July 2003, serves as a central coordinating organization on pipeline related matters for Yukon First Nations directly impacted along the Alaska Highway pipeline corridor. The areas of particular focus for the AHAPC include regulatory issues, environmental issues, and socio-economic impacts of the pipeline and benefits agreements. It continues to receive the encouragement and support of the Yukon Government.

Yukon, British Columbia and Alberta are working together to prepare for the AHPP. A Strategic Action Plan has been jointly developed.

 

Mackenzie Gas Project

The MGP would run from Inuvik into the Nova system in Alberta. The project would deliver about 1.2 Bcf of gas per day.

The Yukon Government is actively taking measures to ensure that Yukon natural gas is not stranded and that Yukon will have access to the proposed MGP. These measures include:

  • Actively promoting Yukon’s interests in the Mackenzie Gas Project through intervention in the National Energy Board hearings and the Joint Review Panel hearings.
  • These interests include access to the Mackenzie Gas Project for Yukon gas, and employment and business opportunities flowing from the MGP, amongst others.
  • Commissioning a North Yukon conceptual oil and gas development scenario to illustrate the attractiveness and economic feasibility of Yukon’s northern natural gas basins for the proposed pipeline.
  • Updating the Eagle Plain Resource Assessment to ensure that exploration companies are aware of the natural gas potential in North Yukon.

 

Contact:

Brian Love – Director
Phone: 867.667.3566
E-mail: brian.love@gov.yk.ca

Transportation and Infrastructure

 

Air Travel

Whitehorse is home to an international airport with the capacity to handle 747-sized airplanes. There are 10 airports throughout the territory, with many smaller airstrips and aerodromes in remote areas.

Whitehorse is served by Air Canada, Air North and First Air. Flights serve Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, Alaska, and the Northwest Territories as follows:

Air Canada to Vancouver:

  • three flights daily in summer
  • two flights daily in winter

Air North offers the following service:

  • daily to Vancouver
  • three days/week to Edmonton/Calgary
  • daily route connecting Dawson, Old Crow, Fairbanks, Inuvik
  • twice weekly to Fairbanks, Alaska (summer only)

First Air offers three flights weekly to Yellowknife.

 

Roads and Highways (Download the Yukon Highways Map  1 MB)

Yukon has 129 bridges and more than 4,800 kilometres of roads that link to Alaska, the Northwest Territories, southern Canada and the United States. Yukon's highway system consists of approximately 2,150 kilometres of Bituminous Surface Treatments (BST) and paved highway, with the remainder loose surface, or gravel.

Yukon’s year-round highway system is built and maintained to accommodate a maximum allowable GVW of 63,500 kg and may be reduced in spring depending on the structure of a highway. A higher limit may be allowed under closely controlled and unusual conditions pursuant to a bulk haul agreement. Yukon has two permanent weigh stations, one in Whitehorse and the other in Watson Lake. BST has been used on Yukon highways since the late 1970s to provide an improved level of service to the traveling public.

 

Freight and Passenger Service

 

Freight/Courier Services

Many private trucking companies operate in Yukon - both national and Yukon based. There is daily service from Edmonton and several times per week from Vancouver. There are a few for hire LTL (Less than Truck Load) operators within Yukon, and several private trucking firms (groceries, fuel etc.).

Yukon is served by more than a dozen national and local courier services, including DHL Express, Fedex, Greyhound Canada and Purolator.

 

Passenger Services

Yukon has one scheduled interprovincial carrier – Greyhound Canada – and numerous charter operators in summer. There are also a few small scheduled carriers on local routes.

 

Rail System

The White Pass and Yukon Route (WP&YR) railway narrow gauge railroad was completed in 1901. There are 170 kilometres of track between Whitehorse and Skagway, Alaska, however, operations to Whitehorse were halted in 1982 following mine closures. Starting in May 2007 a new all-Canadian route Tourist Passenger Service will operate between Carcross, Yukon and historic Bennett, B.C. There are no plans to resume freight operations.

The Yukon government recently committed to contribute $3 million toward a joint feasibility study with Alaska to build a rail link from Alaska through Yukon and into northern British Columbia. Such a railway would provide benefits to Yukon and Canada and would support key industries in the North such as oil and gas, mining and tourism.

Northern Investment Opportunity Table of Contents