Oil sands pipelines
Neither the federal government of Canada nor the government of the province of Alberta is doing anything to constrain the development of Canada’s oil sands. In fact, both governments are doing everything they can to drive development at the most rapid possible pace, with no regard for the air and water pollution being generated, the forests being cut down, the wishes of First Nations communities, or the impact on the Earth’s climate.
One of the few mechanisms available for constraining the growth of the oil sands sector is to block the construction and enlargement of proposed pipelines that would allow the oil to get to world markets:
Specific projects that deserve opposition include:
- The Keystone XL pipeline – intended to run down to the Gulf Coast of the United States
- The Northern Gateway pipeline – intended to run west to the coast of British Columbia
- The TransMountain pipeline expansion – intended to carry additional oil sands crude to Vancouver
Last updated: 25 January 2012
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Kinder lapping rivals in Canadian pipeline race
Kinder Morgan Inc., which this year will become the largest U.S. pipeline company after its $20.7-billion purchase of El Paso Corp., aims to extend its lead over competitors in transporting oil across Canada for export to higher-paying markets in Asia.
Kinder is pressing forward with plans to expand its Trans Mountain pipeline, the only conduit connecting Canada’s oilsands region to the Pacific Coast, to take advantage of regulatory setbacks that stalled competing projects at TransCanada Corp. and Enbridge Inc., both of Calgary.
Kinder, whose Houston-based pipeline partnership, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP, has jumped 13 per cent since the end of October, is seeking commitments from Canadian oil drillers so it can double the line’s capacity to 600,000 barrels a day.
“We’re seeing a real sense of outrage” in Canada, chief executive Richard Kinder said at a conference in Houston this month about TransCanada and Enbridge’s delays.
Keystone XL: The story of a big-ass pipeline proposal — so far
There are three major pipeline systems that currently bring crude oil into eastern Canada: the Enbridge Mainline (722 kbpd on Lines 5 and 6b) which terminates at Sarnia/Nanticoke, Enbridge Line 9 (240kbpd, connected to the mainline), and the Portland-Montreal pipeline (140kbpd).
Another pipeline debate kicks off as Kinder Morgan lines up shippers
Oil producers have thrown their support behind the proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion to the West Coast, but the latest project aimed at providing much-needed shipping capacity for the oil sands industry now faces regulatory hurdles and growing resistance to pipelines.
Kinder Morgan Inc. $3.8-billion plan to double the amount of oil it can move from Alberta to the Pacific has garnered “strong” support from shippers and the company will now carry on with engineering and planning, it said Tuesday.
The momentum means the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion will attract greater scrutiny – something it has largely avoided as local communities and environmental groups turned Enbridge Inc.’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline into an international debate. The federal government supports greater access to the West Coast, but arm’s-length regulators must deliver their verdicts before the projects can proceed.