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TransCanada said it wouldn’t comment on rumours, although the premier’s spokeswoman, Cheryl Oates, said “they are looking for a commitment (for) space on Keystone XL.”

The government has not made a decision on the matter.

However, it is aggressively joining the Trans Mountain-Burnaby fracas before the NEB.

“We are pretty tenacious on fighting for the pipelines and we’re not backing up,” Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd said in an interview.

“One jurisdiction does not get to have the right to obstruct a project that is so important to not just Alberta, but the whole country.”

These two flashpoints are interesting in their own right, but really just symptoms of a bigger conundrum.

Alberta’s oil production continues to grow.

Yet, there won’t be enough pipeline capacity to transport it all unless projects like Keystone XL, Enbridge’s Line 3 and Trans Mountain are built within the coming years.

In a report last week, the National Energy Board said oilsands production is projected to increase 77 per cent to 4.5 million per day by 2040.

There are already signs the current transportation system is close to being full, which means new pipelines are needed — or more crude will be shipped by train.

And that’s the problem.

Not only is moving crude by rail less safe than pipelines, it’s more expensive — about $2 to $7 a barrel more costly, according to the province.

“I think there will be no issues moving oil out of Western Canada. It’s just how you move it and if you have to use rail,” Steve Laut, president of Canadian Natural Resources, said Thursday in an interview.