One reason McLeod is vocalizing his support for transporting oil sands bitumen through his territory is because the NWT has potentially two to three billion barrels of oil in the Canol shale formation in the Mackenzie Valley. These resources could be unlocked with hydraulic fracturing. Still, the NWT has no infrastructure to get its oil to market – the very problem Alberta is facing with oil production forecasted to exceed pipeline capacity by 2015. McLeod stressed, "We have to use what we have to provide for the future of our people. If we can't develop our oil and gas ... it's going to mean we're going to have tough economic times." If the NWT were to have a pipeline to the north to export Alberta's oil, that would also allow it to ship out its own territorial resources. Thus, rerouting the Northern Gateway to the far north could actually be the key to unlocking the NWT's reserves. Without the aid of Alberta, there might not be enough oil to justify building massive amounts of infrastructure, including pipelines to shipping facilities.
Note that the Alaska Dispatch piece is really just a backgrounder at this point. It refs McLeod's August appearance on The House, and he has already disowned the comments he made there.
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