Five First Nations have acquired a stake in a natural gas pipeline that feeds LNG Canada ‘s processing and shipping terminal on the British Columbia coast. Calgary-based TC Energy Corp. said Tuesday it had closed an agreement with an Indigenous-led investment entity representing the Haisla Nation, Halfway River First Nation, McLeod Lake Indian Band, Saulteau First Nations and West Moberly First Nations. Under the agreement, the nations get an economic interest in Coastal GasLink . That gives them a share of what the company called long-term, predictable returns from the pipeline. TC Energy did not disclose the value of the transaction, the size of the interest or how the nations financed their investment. A second deal involving additional First Nations is expected to close before the end of the year. “This agreement turns years of partnership into long-term economic opportunity and shared prosperity,” TC Energy chief executive François Poirier said in a statement. He said the deal lets communities generate predictable income and invest in the priorities that matter most to them. TC Energy said closing the deal reflected years of work to build an Indigenous-owned and financed investment vehicle. “This investment framework recognizes the importance of partnership, financial certainty and shared prosperity, while supporting our communities’ ability to make decisions about our own economic future,” said Chief Roland Willson of West Moberly First Nations. The 670-kilometre pipeline runs from near Dawson Creek, B.C., to the LNG Canada export terminal at Kitimat, B.C., on the province’s north coast. It currently moves about two billion cubic feet of natural gas a day. Maurice Choy, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said in a note to clients that the deal should have a relatively neutral impact on TC Energy’s share price for now, since no financial terms were disclosed. He said the transaction fulfils the spirit of option agreements signed in 2022. Those agreements gave Indigenous communities along the pipeline corridor the right to buy a 10 per cent equity interest in Coastal GasLink from TC Energy. TC Energy operates the line and co-owns it with KKR & Co. and Alberta Investment Management Corp., which bought a combined majority stake in 2020. The project was one of the most contentious energy builds in recent Canadian history. Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs opposed the route, prompting blockades and rail protests across the country in 2020. Its final cost ballooned to roughly $15 billion, or about triple early estimates. Elected councils of all 20 First Nations along the route signed benefit agreements with the company. Choy said the deal should help shore up TC Energy’s relationships with communities along the route and further advance economic reconciliation with First Nations. He also said the sale should go some way toward easing investor concerns about how TC Energy will fund its growth plans. Those concerns come ahead of the company’s third-quarter results, when Choy expects TC Energy to formally lay out plans to raise its net annual capital spending above its self-imposed $6-billion ceiling. The deal also comes as TC Energy advances Coastal GasLink Phase 2, which the company says would nearly double the system’s capacity. The expansion depends on growing global demand for Canadian liquefied natural gas, with LNG Canada’s partners reaching a final investment decision last month on the second phase of the Kitimat terminal. Canada’s oilpatch is on the verge of a construction boom, but who will do the building?Energy executives confident that new oil pipeline will get built • Email: jarose@postmedia.com