CJCD: Industry, Tourism and Investment Minister Brendan Bell says it’s expected that Imperial Oil and the federal government would meet behind closed doors to discuss the Mackenzie Valley gas project. The National Post reported that the federal government was seeking a 20 percent share in the project, while Bell says the meetings have more to do with cost certainty than anything.

BELL: Imperial is interested in knowing what the regime will look like in terms of taxation royalties for the life of the project, and they want to make sure that there’s some certainty so that their economic modeling is accurate, and that’s understandable. I think in any project of this size that that’s very normal and expected.

CJCD: Bell says he sees the federal government wanting a 20 percent stake as a good sign that the project is moving forward.

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