In order to harness energy sources and deliver them to end users, we must design and construct facilities to extract, process, and deliver energy and these facilities must be supported by a robust policy environment. The construction and maintenance of such facilities requires proper planning and execution in order to reduce risks and uncertainty, and to allow for the efficient, cost-effective, and safe delivery of facilities and energy products that are respectful of the environment. The policies which support infrastructure development and deployment must account for a changing energy landscape and assure cost-effective movement of energy from source to end user.

Key Questions:

1. How do we define infrastructure for energy? What are all of the components of energy infrastructure?
2. How do we develop (i.e., construct) infrastructure to support the production and transportation of energy in the most cost-effective, efficient, and safe way, so as to reduce the costs to consumers while protecting the integrity of the environment?
3. What are the risks involved in operating infrastructure for the transportation of energy products? How do we optimize the maintenance, replacement and capital spending on these facilities to minimize risk?
4. Are there developing technologies that can reduce the risks involved with the operation and maintenance of infrastructure for the transportation of energy products? Which technologies can we support and develop?
5. How do we develop advanced decision support systems for improved decision making related to issues around energy infrastructure (e.g., decision to invest, effective construction management, risk management)?
6. How do we define optimal infrastructure for an energy producing economy in an evolving global market (i.e. how many pipelines in which directions, Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) export, midstream processing and/or partial upgrading)?
7. What is the relationship between infrastructure and production - are we creating locked-in emissions by building pipelines or creating stranded assets by not?
8. How does linear infrastructure alter the value of our resources (differentials, induced development, etc.)?
9. How do we assess the impacts of the development of energy supporting infrastructure on various stakeholders (e.g., general public, first nations, government, industry)?