The Executive Director of Trans Mountain Corp. says that there should be a wide pipe space so that Canadian crude oil is marketed up to at least 2030 without the need for a completely new project to be built from scratch.
Mark Maki says that the production of rates has been growing, the existing pipes outside Alberta are on the way to filling around 2027, since they are currently configured.
But he says that his company and other pipelines have small -scale projects in process to restructure their networks to increase performance, which should give the industry a few more tracks to accommodate forecast production.
Maki says that Trans Mountain has been testing the use of chemical additives to help raw flow more gently through the pipe, which connects Alberta to a sea port near Vancouver.
He expects the Crown Corporation to celebrate an open season at the end of this year due to the additional capacity that the initiative will essentially allow an invitation for producers to commit more barrels for the pipe.
It has been a month since Alberta Prime Minister said he was waiting for a private sector proposal for a new oil pipe within “weeks.” It has not happened. Now, Danielle Smith is talking about whether a proponent will appear, not when. The CBC Calgary political panel analyzes what to do with everything.
Maki made his comments in an interview before launching the results of the second quarter of Trans Mountain, which included a gain of $ 150 million, reverting a loss of $ 48 million in the largest year.
He said that projects to increase volumes in existing pipes, through drag reduction agents and add pumping power, can be done relatively fast, without the need to hurry a completely new project.
“First optimizes your existing pipe,” he said. “That gives you time to evaluate the market, do your routing job, your design and all the rest in a new pipe.
“That would be a fairly reasonable way to go to this. It is not necessary to be in the list of main projects tomorrow, but it gives you time to do the job, to have a really good project to put on the list.”
Alberta’s government wants a new pipe to BC Coast
Alberta Prime Minister Danielle Smith said he would like to see a new oil pipe built in the port of Prince Rupert on the northern coast of BC, which allows more exports to Asia.
She has said that this proposal would be proof of a new federal regime to review the projects considered in the national interest in an accelerated schedule.
No company has submitted a proposal to build a second pipeline on the west coast. The CEO of EnBridge Inc. has said that the company would only consider launching a new pipe in Canada if the correct policies were in their place to infuse confidence.
Maki said Trans Mountain would be willing to share his “intellectual capital” in such an effort, providing knowledge based on his experience. But he pointed out that Prime Minister Mark Carney has made it clear that he would like to see the private sector take the lead, which would tell Trans Mountain of Federal Property as the builder.
Company on the way to return $ 1.25b to Ottawa
The expanded Mountain Trans Mountain pipe, which entered service in May 2024, sent 730,000 barrels per day during the first half of the year, approximately 82 percent of its total capacity of 890,000 barrels.
Maki said that the volumes of the pipe flow and flow depending on the time of the year, and that the line is expected to be much more full in the second half of the year, about 90 percent.
“If the system is completely full, we are completely full and all are completely full, it is then that the differential explodes,” he said, referring to the discount that the heavy Canadian crude is put on the market versus the light light easier to refine.
“There is no other place for that incremental barrel to go, so you want a little slack in the general network, not much, but more.”
The company also said on Wednesday that it is on its way to returning $ 1.25 billion to Ottawa through interest, rates and dividends by the end of the year.
