The private-sector buyers could prove elusive as the federal government seeks to offload Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline and expansion project, despite pledges by Ottawa to shoulder risks and help fund construction. The Ottawa said May 29, 2018 that it would shell out $4.5-billion to acquire the project resuscitating a plan that had been near death. Despite assurances, no buyers appear willing to take on the tangle of legal, political and environmental risks that prompted Kinder Morgan Canada Limited (TSX:KML) to abandon the expansion project in the first place.

Large pension funds and private equity players that covet steady financial returns are seen as possible investors, as are incumbent pipeline giants Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB) and TransCanada Corporation (TSX:TRP). All are likely to be wary of the expansion's upfront risks, however.