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An Enbridge oil pipeline is seen being worked on in East Don Parkland in Toronto, March 6, 2014.Mark Blinch/Reuters

Canadian energy companies can only wish building pipelines was as easy as topping Pipeline Pursuit's leaderboard.

Pipeline Pursuit is a new video game targeting the ultimate niche audience: the pipeline crowd. The game debuted Tuesday at the International Pipeline Exposition in Calgary, serving as Stantec Inc.'s bait to draw potential customers into its booth. Edmonton-based Stantec, a design and engineering company, wants to highlight the steps involved in designing and inspecting pipelines – two of the company's specialties.

The game is first-person shooter style, without the ammo. Contestants stand on a mat a few feet away from a TV screen and a gizmo that detects movement. Your avatar is wearing oil and gas gear – blue zip-up flame resistant suits with yellow reflectors; a white hardhat with Stantec's logo on the side; and square, black-rimmed glasses.

The game starts. A digital Stantec employee runs on a pipeline's right-of-way, a tree-free path in the middle of a forest. He jumps when you jump, collecting shiny coins fashioned like Stantec's logo floating in the sky and clearing river crossings. He ducks when you duck, sliding under fallen trees.

Glittery bonus tokens are rewards. Each one represents a milestone in every pipeline design and inspection process. One means you met your deadline to file for regulatory approval. Another means you received regulatory approval. Nab one airborne token in order to complete a "bird nest sweep." Another bonus token equates to a caribou count. You are an environmental guardian. You have successfully designed what will be a steel conduit that will keep the economy humming.

But Pipeline Pursuit leaves out some of the most controversial, difficult, and expensive aspects of the pipeline business. You do not consult First Nations. Regulators do not ask questions about your blueprints. Environmentalists do not protest. In that respect, the video game doesn't address the realities today that are holding up construction of some major pipeline projects planned by the Canadian energy industry, such as TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone XL and Enbridge Inc.'s Northern Gateway.

So, with all those bothers forgotten, onto Pipeline Pursuit's second phase: inspecting your pipeline.

Now, you jump into a pipeline one-quarter full of oil on which you can sprint. Grab the bonus coin that opens the valve. Don't miss the one that increases the flow rate. Duck under the three barrels of oil that form obstacles inside the line. There. You've completed an integrity investigation. No sign of any leaks or cracks or any other potential problems.

"The idea is you want to duck and jump through the pipeline life cycle," said Gerri Fraser, Stantec's marking co-ordinator and Pipeline Pursuit's project lead. "It doesn't exactly show what we do because you can't run through pipelines and there are not barrels in a pipeline.

"It is just sort of a wink at what we do."

Indeed, you cannot fail in Pipeline Pursuit, no matter how poorly you play.

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 19/03/24 9:42am EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
ENB-N
Enbridge Inc
+0.31%35.63
ENB-T
Enbridge Inc
+0.58%48.37
STN-N
Stantec Inc
-0.89%84.92
STN-T
Stantec Inc
+0.03%116.06
TRP-N
TC Energy Corp
+0.42%40.45
TRP-T
TC Energy Corp
+0.79%54.95

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