A comparison : Impact studies and Trans-Alaska Pipeline : Working Paper No. 6.1.2

The impact of the proposed Alaska Highway Pipeline Project (AHPP) was examined using data of tariff rates from Industry Canada (IC) and the Yukon Government (YK). The IC impact spans 8 years from 2001 to 2008 with peak investment of $2.4 billion in 2005. The YK impact spans 10 years from 2002 to 2012 and peaks at nearly $2.0 billion in 2006. For the IC impact, the construction phase peaks in 2005 at 0.2 per cent impact on the Canadian Gross Domestic Product. For the YK impact, different government policy assumptions were used to produce 2 different scenarios for the AHPP impact. The first scenario is comparable to the IC impact, because the fiscal policy assumptions are similar. In the second scenario, Gross Domestic Product impacts peak at 0.25 per cent impact on the Canadian economy in 2006 with long-term impacts of nearly 0.13 per cent. The direct effects of both the IC impact and the YK impact are very similar in magnitude and the methodology used in the IC impact and scenario 1 is similar. This report presented a comparison of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) with the AHPP. TAPS is probably the closest pipeline in magnitude to the AHPP, but TAPS is an oil pipeline which results in variations in construction methods and materials. TAPS spans 800 miles and was built in 1970 to carry crude oil from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, Alaska. The basic difference between the two lines is that TAPS has to maintain the oil at a high temperature so it will flow, and most of the pipeline has to be suspended above ground, while AHPP can be buried underground and operated at low temperatures. The construction costs per mile are expected to be much lower for the AHPP. 7 refs., 2 tabs