Page 8 - NorthAmOil Week 12 2023
P. 8
NorthAmOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT NorthAmOil
Pourbaix: Canada may not need
more major oil pipelines
CANADA CENOVUS Energy’s president and CEO, Alex a twinning of the original 1,150-km pipeline
Pourbaix, has said that Alberta may not need between Strathcona County, near Edmonton
more major pipelines once the Trans Mountain in Alberta, and Burnaby, BC. It was approved
expansion has been built. in 2019 but has struggled with cost escalation
The Trans Mountain expansion was in the and delays ever since. Construction
news earlier this month when the estimated cost Trans Mountain cited costs that included
of the project was reported to have risen by 44% high global inflation and global supply chain of the Trans
to an estimated $22.35bn. challenges; unprecedented floods in BC; unex-
“I think we’ll be good,” said Pourbaix in an pected major archaeological discoveries; chal- Mountain
interview with CBC News. lenging terrain between Merritt and Hope;
“I don’t think we’re going to see another large- earthquake standards in the Burnaby Mountain expansion is
scale liquid pipeline coming forward, certainly tunnel; unexpected water disposal costs in the around 80%
in the next decade,” he said. Sumas Prairie; and issues regarding densely pop-
Cenovus is Canada’s second-largest oil and ulated areas between Sumas and Burnaby. complete.
natural gas producer. Alberta is anticipated to transport out an
Construction of the Trans Mountain expan- additional 500,000 bpd or more once the Trans
sion is around 80% complete, with mechanical Mountain expansion is completed, said ATB
completion anticipated at the end of 2023. The Financial in a recent note. In 2022, Alberta had
pipeline is to be in-service in the first quarter of record oil production, with an output of approx-
2024, said Trans Mountain Corp. imately 3.73mn bpd in crude, said ATB.
Once completed, the pipeline system will But a S&P Global Commodity Insights’ vice
have nearly tripled its capacity, representing an president in Calgary, Kevin Birn, told CBC that
increase of 590,000 barrels per day to a total of he does not expect to see any more large pipe-
890,000 bpd. lines built in Canada. Oil production will not be
The pipeline connects the oil sands in high enough, he told CBC, and opposition to the
Alberta to the Pacific coast, with access to Trans Mountain expansion may make a pipeline
markets in the US and Asia. The expansion is developer cautious to embark upon a project.
P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 12 23•March•2023
