Kitimat Residents Votes Against Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline

(RTTNews) - According to the unofficial result of the Kitimat plebiscite announced on Saturday evening, Canadian oil and gas pipelines operator Enbridge Inc. (ENB, ENB.TO) has lost support from the local residents of Kitimat, Canada for its Northern Gateway pipeline project, under which the firm had proposed to link the oil sands to Asian markets.

As per yesterday's results, the Pacific port town residents of 9,000 people, and the planned western terminus of Northern Gateway, voted 58.4 percent against the proposed pipeline in a non-binding plebiscite.

Enbridge has faced opposition to the C$6.5 billion, or $6 billion Northern Gateway across British Columbia from aboriginals and environmental groups. Other municipalities, such as Smithers and Fort St. James, have adopted resolutions against the pipeline, complicating the Calgary company's efforts to ease a bottleneck for the growing supply of oil from northern Alberta's oil sands and reduce the discount for Canadian crude, reports said.

The federal cabinet is likely to reveal its decision on Northern Gateway by June.