Confidence in pipeline safety ‘in all of our best interests'

Maintaining public trust essential to North America's energy boom, Al Monaco tells industry thought leaders

Higher public expectations, greater scrutiny, and complete transparency are among the new realities in supporting North America’s energy boom, Enbridge president and CEO Al Monaco told an audience of Canadian energy industry thought leaders in Calgary on Friday morning.

“Confidence in the safety of our energy infrastructure is in all of our best interests,” Mr. Monaco told a panel discussion during the Economic Club of Canada’s Canadian Energy Summit 2014 at the Fairmont Palliser. He added that it's important for industry to seek input from a wider range of stakeholders to make pipeline projects better.

North America’s unconventional energy boom – expected to involve continued shale oil and gas production in the United States and Canada, and the growth of Canada’s oil sands – has already transformed the continental landscape, and created an acute demand for new transportation infrastructure.

Mr. Monaco’s panel discussion, on North American pipeline integration and infrastructure, was part of a day-long summit that drew policy makers, industry leaders, and senior government officials. Canadian federal natural resources minister Greg Rickford, Alberta Premier Jim Prentice, and Peter Watson, chair and CEO of Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB), were among the who’s who of the energy industry that gathered at Friday’s summit.

Mr. Monaco said Enbridge is doing a better job at working with people in the decision-making process – an important step in maintaining and building public trust.

He pointed to Northern Gateway’s Community Advisory Board (CAB) process as a prime example of this. The CABs encompass a broad range of stakeholders – including those opposed to the project. Over the past five years, the CABs have held regular meetings to help identify issues, and discuss concerns and solutions. CAB input has helped shape the design of the Northern Gateway project.

“We often hear about how we, as an industry need to communicate better . . . what it’s really about is involving people in our projects early on," he said.

Mr. Monaco pointed out that building public trust – by demonstrating safety and environmental protection as a top priority, remaining transparent and open with stakeholders, and committing to action on climate change, for example – is vital to infrastructure development in a rapidly changing energy industry.

During Friday's event, Mr. Monaco also discussed the strategic imperative of market access, opposition to energy development, and the relative competitiveness of North America’s energy resources with fellow panelists Ian Anderson, president of Kinder Morgan Canada, and Greg Ebel, president and CEO of Spectra Energy.