The expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline received the final regulatory clearance it needs to start shipping crude from the oil sands to Canada’s Pacific Coast, concluding a decade-long wait for the controversial project.
The project’s so-called leave-to-open application was approved, the Canada Energy Regulator said on its website. The signoff means the pipeline can enter commercial operation on schedule May 1.
The approval marks the regulatory finish line for a project that has faced years of delays, construction mishaps, legal battles and fierce environmental opposition. The pipeline ended up costing C$34 billion ($25 billion), more than six times the original estimate, and its start date is seven years later than originally planned.
Still, the expansion will almost triple the capacity of the line to 890,000 barrels a day, vastly increasing the volume of crude that Alberta’s oil producers can ship to growing Asian markets. Those new buyers also are expected to lessen producers’ dependence on US refiners and support pricing for Canadian crude.
Cargoes off the new line are already scheduled to be shipped to China, California and India.
Many residents of British Columbia and indigenous communities viewed the pipeline as a threat to the environment and fought against its construction. The battle became so fraught that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government bought Trans Mountain from Kinder Morgan Inc. in 2018 to save the project from cancellation.
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