July 31, 2024 [Reuters]- Canada will likely delay the sale of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline until after the national election in 2025, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing officials familiar with internal discussions.

The country’s government bought the C$34 billion ($24.88 billion) Trans Mountain expansion project in 2018 to ensure construction went ahead, with plans to divest it once operations began.

The long-delayed project became operational on May 1 and was expected to nearly triple the shipments of Alberta oil to Canada’s Pacific Coast to 890,000 barrels per day.

“The federal government will launch a divestment process in due course,” finance ministry spokesperson Katherine Cuplinskas said, but declined to give details on the timing of the sale.

She said the project will ensure Canada receives fair market value while maintaining the highest environmental standards.

Trans Mountain Corporation said in an emailed statement that the government had stated it does not intend to be the long-term owner and will launch the divestment process in due course.

The government said in May it was amending regulations on how it manages the state-owned pipeline to facilitate its sale to indigenous groups.

However, there has been no consensus on the valuation of the pipeline and the government has faced criticism for the cost of the expansion ballooning to nearly five times its 2017 budget estimate.

The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

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