Laut Budgetwächter ist es „unwahrscheinlich“, dass Ottawa einen Gewinn aus dem Verkauf von Trans Mountain erzielen wird

From Rahim Mohamed:

Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux said on Monday that Ottawa is likely to lose money on its eventual sale of the Trans Mountain pipeline, after shelling out more than $34 billion to complete the project.

Giroux told members of a House of Commons committee studying the matter that federal officials will be hard-pressed to find a private buyer willing to pay a premium for [the pipeline](https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/canadas-long-delayed-trans-mountain-oil-pipeline-set-start-operations-2024-05-01/), which has been operational since May, even under an optimistic scenario where foreign demand for Canadian oil stays high.

“If the Trans Mountain pipeline system were sold in 2024 (present values), the government would record a loss on the sale,” Giroux said in a brief opening statement.

Giroux was accompanied by advisor Jason Stanton, the lead author of a PBO update on [the Trans Mountain expansion](https://distribution-a617274656661637473.pbo-dpb.ca/03a27244859717cd6e460f3bf5eb3612d9f3190b28f269c63a9bfb61aa7b23f7) published earlier this month.

The two were on hand to answer questions from MPs about the assumptions underpinning the PBO analysis, which estimated that the pipeline would fetch between $29.6 billion and $33.4 billion on the open market.