Energy executives confident new West Coast pipeline gets built: survey

Canada’s oilpatch appears to be headed for a growth spurt, with investors increasingly willing to bankroll expansion, according to a closely watched barometer of the industry.

The latest findings from ATB Cormark Capital Markets’ fall survey point to a major shift in sentiment from a year ago, perhaps fuelled by a growing belief that a new West Coast pipeline will be built.

“This is the tide and sentiment turning where investors believe that it’s worthwhile to put capital at risk and to grow,” said Tim Monachello, managing director of energy and industrial services at ATB.

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The semi-annual report from ATB is a highly regarded measure of sentiment in oil and gas, built on responses from executives at 91 energy producers, oilfield services companies and institutional investment firms. It’s not a scientific survey, but it is viewed as an important indicator of the mood and outlook among key players in the industry.

The latest edition shows a meaningful shift in that mood in just the past year.

Perhaps the biggest change in perspective was around the proposed Pacific Link pipeline , which could carry crude oil from Alberta to the West Coast in southern B.C. for shipment overseas.

Over 90 per cent of those surveyed expect the project to be built, a major improvement from last year, when there was considerable doubt it would even land on the federal major projects list.

Pollsters collected responses from Sept. 16 to 28, before Ottawa declared Pacific Link is in the national interest.

“The energy sector feels like the government’s now behind them,” Monachello said, adding respondents expect many other major projects to come to fruition.