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(Reuters; June 5) - Enbridge said June 5 that 60 percent of the aboriginal communities living on the route of its proposed $5.3 billion Northern Gateway oil pipeline from Alberta to the British Columbia coast have agreed to accept an equity stake in the project.

The company said half of the communities that signed up for a piece of the 10 percent equity stake are in British Columbia and half in Alberta. The company is looking to secure First Nations backing for the controversial line, which looks to carry 525,000 barrels per day of oilsands crude from Alberta to a deep-water port at Kitimat, B.C.

Opposition from environmental groups and British Columbia First Nations, due to concerns about possible oil spills, has led to prolonged regulatory hearings for Northern Gateway and delayed construction of the line. Enbridge has not released the names of the communities that have signed up for a stake in the line. Many of British Columbia's First Nation aboriginal groups have publicly opposed the project and none have gone on record in support of Northern Gateway.

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