Enbridge didn't rule out the possibility that China's largest state-owned oil company, PetroChina, could one day build the Northern Gateway pipeline, but said in a statement that such speculation is "premature in the extreme."

The company was responding to a recent National Post story -- blogged on The Tyee's political blog, The Hook -- which suggested the Chinese firm may present a "competitive bid" to construct the project with non-unionized, over-seas labour.

The National Post story quoted outgoing CEO and president Pat Daniel, who reportedly said "[PetroChina] have made the point to us that they are very qualified in building pipelines, and we will take that into consideration when we are looking for contractors."

Enbridge took issue with the Post's further analysis in its statement without directly refuting any of the points raised in the story.

"Construction of Northern Gateway would be through an open bid process, and to be successful any bid would have to meet Enbridge’s stringent requirements and meet all federal and provincial employment standards," it read. "Enbridge is firmly committed to hiring as many local people as possible to build and operate Northern Gateway and is not anticipating bringing in overseas workers to construct or operate the project."

The statement notes that Enbridge will do all it can to "maximize local hiring and training opportunities, particularly for Aboriginal people."

The $5.5 billion project is still undergoing regulatory hearings, and it could be years before a federal government decision on its fate.

Geoff Dembicki reports on energy and climate issues for The Tyee.