The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that local opposition and regulatory wrangling over Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline are dashing dreams of boosting exports of Alberta crude to Asia by the decade's end. The Globe's Jeff Lewis writes that Enbridge indicated Thursday it doubts Gateway will start by 2018 as planned. Project president John Carruthers said the timeline is "quickly evaporating" while the company works to build support among B.C. aboriginal groups. Enbridge offered no new target date for Gateway to start. Rival Kinder Morgan has said crude could begin flowing west on its expanded Trans Mountain system by 2018, but the $5.4-billion plan to nearly triple capacity on the network faces delays amid an escalating scrap with local municipalities over routing concerns and increased tanker traffic in Burrard Inlet. The difficulties could set back the energy industry's efforts to more than double oil sands production to 4.1 million barrels a day by 2025, leaving Canadian crude captive to a U.S. market increasingly flush with domestic oil. TransCanada's proposed Energy East pipeline, meanwhile, also faces hurdles. "The headwinds are increasing," says one observer.