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“Politically, it seems to me that given the words that we’ve given to Obama about the Keystone decision and the fact that’s been punted, I find it unlikely they’ll punt it here,” Strahl, who is advising Enbridge’s Northern Gateway division about its discussions with aboriginal groups, said by telephone June 13 from Calgary.

The State Department said in April it would extend its review of TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL to give government agencies more time to comment.

The Canadian government will probably heed the recommendation of its regulatory panel, which studied Northern Gateway for more than three years, Strahl said. “The federal government is loathe to go against expert opinion on science- based reports.”

Calgary-based Enbridge first proposed the pipeline a decade ago as production from the oil sands — and demand in Asia for fossil fuels — started to increase. The route would traverse the Rocky and Coast mountains before descending through the coastal rain forests of northwest British Columbia, home to aboriginal groups who harvest shellfish and other seafood from the surrounding waters.

Only 29% of British Columbia residents said they favor immediate approval of the project by the federal government, according to a June 3 Bloomberg-Nanos poll. Thirty- three percent of respondents wanted Harper to delay approval for further study, while 34% wanted the project rejected.

Enbridge has “more work to do” on Northern Gateway, Chief Executive Officer Al Monaco said in a June 11 interview on Bloomberg Television. The company has reached out to local communities along the proposed route in an effort to build trust, he said. The company is also re-evaluating the estimated cost to build Northern Gateway, Monaco has said, after the review panel put the 209 conditions on the project’s approval.