(Bloomberg) — Canadian taxpayers will lose money from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to nationalize a pipeline after costs escalated amid delays in expanding the system, according to the country’s budget watchdog. Most Read from Bloomberg A project to expand the Trans Mountain Pipeline, Canada’s sole conduit for crude from Alberta’s oil sands to the Pacific Ocean, has faced repeated delays and cost increases since Trudeau’s government bought the system from Kinder Morgan Inc. in 2018. In February, Trans Mountain announced a 70% jump in expansion costs to C$21.4 billion ($16.55 billion) partly due to delays, the effects of the pandemic and flooding last year. While the government said it would spend no additional public money on the pipeline, it guaranteed a C$10 billion loan for it in May. The company said when the cost increase was announced that the “business case supporting the project remained sound.” The net present value of the system is now C$3.9 billion, C$600 million lower than the purchase price, the Parliamentary Budget Officer said Wednesday in an updated costing report. “Based on the new developments since the previous report, specifically the increased construction costs and the delay in the in-service date, PBO finds […]
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