And it comes as the need for more energy infrastructure is resonating across the country, both inside governments and with Canadians. Read More
Adding drag-reducing agents to allow more oil to flow through its existing network could increase system capacity by five to 10 per cent, at relatively minimal capital expense, by the end of 2026
Adding drag-reducing agents to allow more oil to flow through its existing network could increase system capacity by five to 10 per cent, at relatively minimal capital expense, by the end of 2026
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The CEO of Trans Mountain Corp. sees the need to build more pipeline capacity to ship oil to Canada’s West Coast for export at some point.
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Mark Maki doesn’t envision the federally owned Crown corporation pitching construction of a new pipeline to the northwest coast of British Columbia, but it is advancing plans that could increase the capacity of its core system.
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And it comes as the need for more energy infrastructure is resonating across the country, both inside governments and with Canadians.
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“You have to start first with what’s the supply outlook going to be, and so I’m an optimist by nature,” Maki said in an interview Friday.
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“There are so many good things being said now out of the federal government around the need to develop conventional energy here in Canada that I’m optimistic that there’s going to be a need to tweak the existing systems, to optimize the existing pipeline systems.”
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Support for building pipelines in Canada has been climbing this year with the threats of U.S. tariffs.
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For Trans Mountain, possible capacity expansion starts with adding drag-reducing agents to allow more oil to flow through its existing network that can transport 890,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the Edmonton area to Burnaby.
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Test work is already underway to see how it will work. This step could increase existing system capacity by five to 10 per cent, at relatively minimal capital expense, by the end of 2026.
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In the longer term, the corporation is doing early engineering work on a plan that could see pumping stations added to bolster capacity to nearly 1.14 million bpd later in the decade.
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If approved, it could come with a price tag in the range of $3 billion to $4 billion.
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Boosting the capacity of the Trans Mountain system will be determined, in part, by demand from producers and by the owners of the Trans Mountain Corp. — Canadian taxpayers.
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The fact Trans Mountain is working on the concept just a year after completing its historic $34-billion expansion development, which nearly tripled the capacity of the existing line to the B.C. coast, speaks to the economic uncertainty Canada faces today.