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Enbridge Inc.’s Northern Gateway pipeline may get a new lease on life as the Canadian government wavers on a planned tanker moratorium that was previously thought to spell the end for the project.

Officials are weighing what types of petroleum products may be exempt from any moratorium, and whether certain tankers could be allowed, according to people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged in November to “formalize a moratorium on crude oil tanker traffic” on British Columbia’s northern coast. But cabinet ministers are noncommittal on its precise implications, while federals officials have regularly declined to comment on Northern Gateway’s prospects.

“It’s a formalized moratorium and, when we have worked out exactly what that means, we’ll let you know,” Transport Minister Marc Garneau, who is responsible for implementing the measure, said in an interview this month. Asked in a separate interview whether the moratorium pledge means Gateway is dead, he said: “It’s premature to say anything.”