PetroChina Canada Ltd. has run into obstacles because it seeks to take full possession of an Alberta pipeline system.
The Canadian arm of the Chinese language state-owned power large has a half-interest within the Grand Rapids Pipeline, with Calgary-based South Bow Corp. holding the remaining.
Grand Rapids runs 460 kilometres between the oilsands area in northeastern Alberta and the Edmonton space.
PetroChina was looking for to amass South Bow’s curiosity underneath an possibility contained of their settlement that features a 30-day time restrict, mentioned an Alberta Court docket of King’s Bench written resolution posted on-line final week.
“The proverbial fly-in-the-ointment is the requirement of two governmental authorizations,” wrote Justice Douglas Mah, who rendered his oral resolution in December.
The Calgary Courts Centre pictured in Calgary, Monday, Might 6, 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
“First, due to the scale and nature of the transaction, dispensation is required underneath the Competitors Act,” wrote Mah.
“Second, as a result of PetroChina is a Chinese language state-owned enterprise, its acquisition of South Bow’s curiosity within the pipeline should bear a web profit overview underneath the Funding Canada Act. Each of those authorizations take time to get,” Mah added.
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PetroChina served South Bow formal discover to train the buyout possibility on Nov. 21 and tendered a draft buy and sale settlement.
It additionally requested that the timeline be prolonged from 30 days to the precise date of getting the federal government authorizations or that the closing be made conditional upon the approvals being in place.
Three days later, South Bow responded by saying it will not change its settlement with PetroChina and that its accomplice’s discover to train its possibility was “non-compliant as a result of authorizations had not been obtained,” Mah wrote.
That might have put the expiration date for exercising the choice at Dec. 24.
As it will have been inconceivable to have approvals in-hand by Christmas Eve, PetroChina turned to a dispute decision course of underneath its settlement with South Bow.
PetroChina requested Mah for an injunction to maintain the choice interval from expiring whereas the 2 corporations try to resolve the dispute by way of arbitration, “which can possible be some months down the highway,” the decide wrote.
Mah denied PetroChina’s utility, saying he’s not satisfied the corporate would have suffered “irreparable hurt” absent an injunction.
“PetroChina says that its irreparable hurt is lack of the choice, however that may be restored by the tribunal and that’s precisely what PetroChina is asking for within the arbitration,” Mah wrote.
“In my opinion, hurt can’t be irreparable if the applicant will be put within the actual place it needs to be by the decision-maker making the ultimate resolution. South Bow opposes that final result however concedes that the arbitration tribunal has jurisdiction to make that call.”
PetroChina reached its deal to construct Grand Rapids in 2012 with TransCanada Corp., now referred to as TC Power Corp. (TC spun off its oil pipeline enterprise into South Bow in late 2024) and it’s been in operation since 2017.
The development price ticket on the time was $3 billion. The current courtroom resolution didn’t embody an up to date valuation.
Neither South Bow nor PetroChina Canada instantly responded to a request for remark.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
