The Alberta government will propose a southern route for its new oil pipeline to the West Coast, relenting on its insistence that a conduit to the Pacific be routed to B.C.’s northern coast, three government and industry sources say.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has said from the start of the planning that the new, one-million-barrel-a-day pipeline should run to a marine terminal in northwestern B.C. However, several First Nations in the area have voiced strong opposition to a pipeline in the region. A northern route would have also required changes to the federal tanker ban along that part of B.C.’s coast, which is considered a non-starter by that province’s government.

That opposition, as well as numerous environmental challenges, prompted the Liberal government of Prime Minister Mark Carney to try to persuade Alberta to change tack and consider building a pipeline that largely follows the right-of-way for the Trans Mountain Pipeline from Edmonton to southern B.C.

The sources said that’s the path Alberta will propose in its submission to Ottawa’s Major Projects Office.

The Globe and Mail is not naming the sources as they were not authorized to speak publicly about the negotiations.