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The agreement stresses that this pipeline will be privately constructed and financed — unlike the publicly owned Trans Mountain — and the intention is to have some Indigenous co-ownership.

That ["project of 'national interest'"] designation means the pipeline — and possibly the tankers associated with transporting the oil — could be exempted from some federal laws. Those include the Fisheries Act, the Species At Risk Act and the Impact Assessment Act, among others.

Canada is committing to "collaborate with Alberta to provide a clear and efficient approval process for the Alberta bitumen pipeline."

Importantly, Alberta is promising to "collaborate with B.C. to ensure British Columbians share substantial economic and financial benefits of the proposed pipeline."

Ottawa will also suspend the proposed federal oil and gas emissions cap and Alberta's requirements under the Clean Electricity Regulations (CER).

But the two sides are committed to increasing the industrial carbon price in the province — moving it from $95 a tonne now to a minimum of $130 a tonne. The federal government had previously demanded that price rise to $170 a tonne by 2030.

Both sides say they are committed to net-zero by 2050, despite the MOU that has the potential to turbocharge conventional energy production.

To help achieve that goal, both Canada and Alberta are moving ahead with Pathways Plus, an Alberta-based carbon capture, utilization and storage project, which could reduce the emissions intensity of exports from the province's oilsands.

The two sides are also agreeing to dramatically lower methane emissions associated with the oil patch — a 75 per cent reduction target relative to 2014 emissions levels by 2035.