Canada Arctic pipeline faces 1-year regulatory wait

TORONTO Dec 5 (Reuters) - A regulatory panel weighing a proposal for a C$16.2 billion ($12.5 billion) pipeline to ship gas from Canada's Arctic will not complete its report for one year, spelling another in a long list of delays for the embattled project.

The Joint Review Panel, which is examining the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline, said it will release its report in December 2009.

"We understand that there is tremendous interest in the panel's findings, but we are required and committed to base our findings on a full and fair review of the evidence," Robert Hornal, the panel's chairman, said in a statement.

($1=$1.30 Canadian) (Reporting by Jeffrey Jones; editing by Peter Galloway)