Coastal GasLink options deals signed with Indigenous communities along pipeline corridor

Pipes at a natural gas plant near Fort St. John, B.C., Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

TC Energy Corp. says it has signed option agreements to sell a 10 per cent equity interest in the Coastal GasLink Pipeline Limited Partnership to Indigenous communities across the project corridor.

Financial terms of the agreements were not disclosed.

The CGL First Nations Limited Partnership and the FN CGL Pipeline Limited Partnership have been established and together represent 16 communities which have confirmed their support for the option agreements.

The deals come after Indigenous groups expressed an interest in becoming owners in Coastal GasLink together with Alberta Investment Management Corp., KKR and TC Energy.

The equity options are exercisable once the pipeline begins commercial service, subject to customary regulatory approvals and consents.

Coastal GasLink will carry natural gas across 670 kilometres from the Groundbirch area west of Dawson Creek, B.C., to a liquefied natural gas export facility being constructed by LNG Canada and its partners near Kitimat, B.C.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 9, 2022.