Just before Christmas, the joint venture behind the Mackenzie Gas Project announced the project was finally, officially dead. SA国际影视传媒淭hank God they put it out of its misery,SA国际影视传媒� says oil and gas consultant Doug Matthews.

Now based out of Calgary, Matthews has spent the last 38 years working and living around the NWT, much of those spent with the GNWT. As a commentator and columnist, heSA国际影视传媒檚 been outspoken in boosting the NWTSA国际影视传媒檚 resource industriesSA国际影视传媒攕o his current position on oil and gas might surprise some.

SA国际影视传媒淭here was a lot of complaining about the regulatory process but to be perfectly frank, fracking introduced so much more natural gas to the market that the price collapsed and the project simply would not have been economical,SA国际影视传媒� says Matthews. SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 really just that simple, ISA国际影视传媒檓 afraid.SA国际影视传媒�

He says the price of oil has dropped to $3.50 per thousand cubic feet (MCF) SA国际影视传媒渙n a good daySA国际影视传媒� and for a project whose financing centred around prices more in line with $10 per MCF, the project would have been in tatters even if it had already been built and in use.

SA国际影视传媒淚n an odd way, just as Justice Berger did back in the SA国际影视传媒�70s, the joint review panel, I think, did the producers a favour by keeping them out of the market,SA国际影视传媒� he says.

Especially strange for an endeavour that never actually panned out, the Mackenzie Gas Project has been the highest-profile venture ever undertaken in the NorthSA国际影视传媒檚 short modern history.

When initially proposed in 1970 by the federal government, it met quick opposition from aboriginal groups in the territory. A young judge named Thomas Berger was tasked with touring 35 Northern communities over three years to assess the environmental and social impacts such a project could have.

BergerSA国际影视传媒檚 report, released in 1977, recommended the project be shelved for 10 years. It also helped initiate, concurrent with growing political organization by groups such as the Indian Brotherhood, a recognition of Indigenous rights in Canada that has continued to gain momentum since.

Matthews says this was a blessing in disguise for the oil companies that would have built it, as the oil market then crashed in the SA国际影视传媒�80s.

The Mackenzie Gas Project was revived in 200 by the Aboriginal Pipeline Group, a consortium involving the Sahtu Dene, GwichSA国际影视传媒檌n and Inuvialuit, partnered with a joint venture involving Imperial Oil Resources Limited, ConocoPhillips Canada and ExxonMobil Canada.

The project was finally given regulatory approval in 2010, with the condition that construction begin by 2015. Imperial Oil then asked for and received an extension on that deadline to 2022.

On Dec. 22, Imperial Oil and the other partners announced the project was finished.

SA国际影视传媒淲e recognize this is a disappointing day for the people of the North,SA国际影视传媒� stated Theresa Redburn, senior vice-president of commercial and corporate development at Imperial Oil. SA国际影视传媒淭his is a disappointment to Imperial and the other members of the joint venture, as well.SA国际影视传媒�

Redburn thanked the projectSA国际影视传媒檚 supporters in the NWT and said there is potential for a future in oil and gas for the territorySA国际影视传媒擲A国际影视传媒済iven the right economic and regulatory conditions.SA国际影视传媒�

Matthews doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 see those aligning in the foreseeable future.

SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檝e been pro-development my whole career in the North SA国际影视传媒� always arguing for development, supporting pipelines and whatever,SA国际影视传媒� says Matthews, SA国际影视传媒渂ut I do think that the world has just changed so much in the last five years, if not 10, that the future for oil and gas in the NWT, that is for exploration and production, is far from rosy.SA国际影视传媒�

He cited recent examples such as Shell divesting oil sands interests in Canada earlier last year. SA国际影视传媒渋f the oilsands arenSA国际影视传媒檛 attractive, what are you going to do with the Beaufort?SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒淭here are just too many changes taking place in the whole energy world these days,SA国际影视传媒� says Matthews. SA国际影视传媒淭he NWT has the farthest [oil] from market and one of the more expensive areas for developmentSA国际影视传媒攊tSA国际影视传媒檚 one of the first ones to get left out of the future.SA国际影视传媒�