With the official opening of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion just days away, those who live and work in Fort McMurray hope their fortunes are headed for an upswing.
A decade and a half ago, the northern Alberta community was this country’s most famous boom town. High oil prices helped to drive unprecedented demand for the thick, viscous bitumen that lies beneath the earth’s surface here, and workers flocked from around the world to cash in on the bonanza.
“We are so heavily supported by oilsands operators in the region, that when things that are important to them — like the Trans Mountain pipeline — happen, there are direct benefits to us. What supports them, supports us.”The Trans Mountain pipeline, which was bought six years ago by the federal government, is Canada’s only oil pipeline to the West Coast.
It has also inhibited oil companies’ ability to grow, so the anticipation when it comes to Trans Mountain is real. Even on the low end of the forecast, this growth rate would match the average annual oil output growth rate Canada saw in the booming years between 2010 and 2015, when commodity prices were high and Alberta’s oilsands region was undergoing unprecedented levels of construction and activity.
“The oilsands of 15 years ago, we just didn’t have some of the technologies or the operating experience and practices that we have today,” Cenovus’ Zieglgansberger said.Many people’s mental image of Fort McMurray is synonymous with the period when the community was a bustling boom town defined by heavy traffic, high housing costs and money that seemed to grow on trees.
“COVID happened, the flood happened, the fire happened — and we’ve not seen the town the same way,” Thapa said. “So many small businesses have already closed and left town … so many things have changed since I moved here.”While Thapa said she welcomes the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, she knows this year’s record oilsands output is not going to turn Fort McMurray back into the boom town of yesteryear.
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