The Alberta government says it will give “financial supports” to oilsands companies to encourage them to raise their production and fill a proposed pipeline that would carry a million barrels of oil per day to the Pacific Coast. The revelation is part of a new set of disclosures released by the federal government on its deal with Alberta and oilsands companies to satisfy Ottawa’s climate goals while building a massive new export pipeline for oil. A backgrounder on the deal lays out broad terms on which five oilsands companies agree to build a carbon capture and storage mega-project. The Pathways project has long been a key condition for Prime Minister Mark Carney in order to get his blessing for a new oil pipeline. The backgrounder document, released Monday, offers a window into some of the concessions each party has made in order to expand production and ship the oil to energy-hungry markets in Asia. The document says oilsands producers — Canada Natural Resources Ltd. , Suncor Energy Inc. , Cenovus Energy Inc. , Imperial Oil Ltd. and ConocoPhilips Co. — have agreed to cut their emissions by six million tonnes per year by early 2035 through the Pathways project. They expect further reductions of 10 million tonnes per year a decade later. Among other measures, Ottawa has agreed to provide oilsands companies with financing to support operating costs for carbon capture projects. And Alberta said it will offer incentives to encourage more production. Energy investors have for years demanded that oil and gas companies stop building large, risky production projects and instead focus on paying down debt and returning excess funds to shareholders. But these marching orders from investors run counter to the Alberta government’s goals of doubling oil and gas production by 2035. A new pipeline to the British Columbia coast is part of those ambitions to build future revenue streams to help pay for government services. Premier Danielle Smith has publicly mused that she’s open to the idea of offering oilsands companies some incentives to invest in greenfield development. She has since put the commitment in writing. “Alberta has agreed to implement financial supports to enable the oil production growth needed to underpin new export capacity,” according to the backgrounder released Monday. More to come … rsouthwick@postmedia.com