Tag: Pipelines

Kinder Morgan proposes second Kitimat bitumen pipeline

In a story broken early Thursday, June 2, by the Vancouver website Tyee and confirmed by Northwest Coast Energy news,  another major energy player, Kinder  Morgan is proposing a second pipeline to carry bitumen from the Alberta oil sands to the port of Kitimat.

The proposal was part of a presentation to industry analysts  during a conference on March 24, 2011, with a PDF of the Power Point presentation posted on the Kinder Morgan Website.

The  likely controversial proposal was not picked up by the media until Tyee broke the story.

The presentation says the proposed pipeline is one of several alternatives proposed for the expansion of the existing Kinder Morgan Transmountain Pipeline.  In this scenario the pipeline to Kitimat would branch off from the Transmountain Pipeline go through Prince George and then apparently follow existing pipeline routes to Kitimat and not follow the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway route.

379-kitimatmap.jpg

The Kinder Morgan presentation says the Transmountain pipeline branch to Kitimat would cost $4 billion, compared to the $5,5 billion that Enbridge has budgeted for the Northern Gateway project.  The Transmountain pipeline would have a capacity of  450 million  barrels a day compared  to the Northern Gateway capacity  of 550 million barrels a day.

Tyee says:

A power point presentation
for investors by Ian Anderson, president of Kinder Morgan Canada Group,
provides a wealth of information that has not been widely shared with
the general public or local governments:

Tyee says Kinder Morgan is also asking the National Energy Board for a immediate jump in the bitumen going through the port of Vancouver

They are also requesting to divert more Alberta crude and bitumen capacity to the Westbridge tanker terminal in Burrard Inlet and away from existing land-based refineries in B.C. and Washington. If approved, this would immediately expand crude capacity through Vancouver from 52,000 bpd to 79,000 bpd — an increase of more than 50 per cent

.

According to the documents seen by Tyee, the Vancouver end of the project would require the dredging of Second Narrows to allow large supertankers to visit the port. Tanker traffic in Vancouver would increase, Tyee says

Tanker transits through Vancouver will increase to 216 per year in 2016, up from 71 in 2010 and 22 in 2005.

All this is being propelled by increasing energy demand from China. It also appears that Kinder Morgan wants to increase the Vancouver capacity because of the delays in the Enbridge Northern Gateway project, which means that Alberta oil patch is seeking new ways to get the raw bitumen to China.

Links
Kinder Morgan Canada presentation on the Kitimat pipeline and the Vancouver port expansion (PDF)

Kinder Morgan application to the National Energy Board (PDF))

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Canada firms may miss Chinese market   Enbridge VP warns energy sector must act: Calgary Herald

Calgary Herald


Canada firms may miss Chinese market  Enbridge VP warns energy sector must act

If Canada’s energy firms don’t start exporting to China now, others might beat them to it, according to an Enbridge Inc. vice-president. 

 The warning by Byron Neiles, who heads up major projects for the Calgary-based company, was one of several made by industry voices to delegates at a national forum in Calgary on doing business with Hong Kong, hosted by the Hong Kong Canada Business Association. 

They argued the window of opportunity to sell to China won’t always be open largely due to competition and the chance the world’s second largest economy may cease growing at its current staggering pace – reducing the money its investors can spend.

Shell says it’s looking at B.C. Coast for new LNG terminal: Vancouver Sun

Vancouver Sun


Shell says it’s looking at B.C. Coast for new LNG terminal

Shell Canada says it is investigating the potential for a new liquid natural gas terminal to be located on the B.C. coast.

Shell “is interested in, and currently exploring LNG opportunities along the B.C. coast,” Stephen Doolan, of Shell’s media relations department said in an email to The Sun.
“We are early in the evaluation process so do not have specific details but are pursuing opportunities,” he said. “Natural gas is a key area of growth for Shell. In terms of LNG, we will continue to invest in our global leadership position as demand continues to grow

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No real need for pipeline between oilsands and West Coast: bureaucrat: Vancouver Sun

Vancouver Sun


A multi-billion dollar pipeline project that would link the oilsands region to the coast of British Columbia offers new export capacity that the Canadian industry does not really need, senior bureaucrats have told the federal government… 

 The details of the federal assessment were released in over 300 pages of internal documents from Natural Resources Canada, obtained by Postmedia News, which also noted rising public opposition to Enbridge’s proposed project over concerns about oil spills that could plague pristine natural habitat on land and water — especially in light of recent accidents such as BP’s Gulf Coast well blow-out and an Enbridge crude oil pipeline rupture and leak into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan.

Editor’s note The Sun says Environmental Defence of Toronto filed the original Access To Information request.

First Nations “manipulated” by Americans on Enbridge: National Post columnist

National Post

Columnist Peter Foster

Northern Gateway is being ostensibly opposed by native groups. The question is how far those groups are being manipulated -and paid -by the green movement. Two weeks ago, aboriginal protestors ululated and banged on their drums outside the Enbridge annual meeting. They have also appeared at bank meetings, including that a few weeks ago of the Royal Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh. They are a permanent fixture at UN climate meetings…. 

And just how many informed natives do the protestors represent? One loud group, the Yinka Dene Alliance, has asserted its unyielding opposition to Northern Gateway, no matter how much training, and how many benefits and jobs, are provided to often desperately poor native communities. However, some observers suggest that the alliance represents only 150 people. According to Enbridge, some support the line, although the company is reluctant to identify them because it doesn’t want to stir potential conflict. This reflects the usual situation in which project proponents find themselves silenced while opponents are free to conspicuously drum their moral outrage….

NEB Northern Gateway Joint Review info sessions set for NW BC

The National Energy Board Joint Review Panel on the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline project  has set the dates for information sessions regarding future hearings in communities across northwestern British Columbia and Alberta.

These are short information sessions about the joint review process and not full hearings. The NEB says, “These sessions will provide information and guidance on the joint review process and participation options.”

Dates are

  • Kitimat, BC, 16 June,   5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Riverlodge Community Centre
  • Prince Rupert, BC, 15 June, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. North Coast Convention Centre
  • Queen Charlotte City, BC, 14 June, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Community Hall
  • Smithers, BC, 22 June 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Hudson Bay Lodge and Convention Centre
  • Burns Lake, BC,  June 8,  7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Burns Lake District Chamber of Commerce
  • Vanderhoof, BC,   June 7, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m Nechako Senior Friendship Centre
  • Prince George, BC, June 22,  5 p.m. to 9 p.m  Ramada Hotel Downtown
  • Tumbler Ridge, BC,  June 9, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Community Center
  •  Bruderheim, AB,  June 6,  7 p.m. to 9 p.m.  Bruderheim Community Hall The Lions’ Den   
  • Whitecourt, AB,   June  7, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Royal Canadian Legion
  • Grande Prairie, AB,  June 8, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m  Grande Prairie Curling Club

The NEB says specific dates and venues for the information sessions in Bella Bella, Hartley Bay, Kitkatla and Klemtu will be announced on the panel’s website as soon as the details are available.

More information on  the Joint Review Panel website

NEB news release on Canada News Wire

TransCanada defends pipeline project in Washington

PostMedia News

Calgary-based TransCanada Corp. courted its U.S. congressional allies — and confronted its foes — on Monday amid an effort by Republicans to pass legislation forcing the Obama administration to approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline before the end of 2011.
In testimony before the House subcommittee on energy and power, TransCanada executive Alex Pourbaix dismissed as “completely false” allegations by environmental groups that diluted bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands is more dangerous and corrosive to transport than conventional heavy oil.

‘Native land claims scare the hell out of investors’: energy expert : The Hook

The Hook (Tyhee blog)

‘Native land claims scare the hell out of investors’: energy expert

Fierce First Nations opposition could very well topple Enbridge’s west coast pipeline proposal, a Washington-based energy expert argues.

“Native land claims scare the hell out of investors,” Robert Johnson told an Alberta energy conference, according to an Edmonton Journal report. “My level of confidence [in the project] has gone down quite a bit, unfortunately.”

Johnson belongs to senior management at Eurasia Group, which claims to be the “world’s leading global political risk research and consulting firm.”

The case for co-operation Why Shawn Atleo and Pat Daniel should have lunch: Alberta Oil

Alberta Oil

The case for co-operation Why Shawn Atleo and Pat Daniel should have lunch

A great, though as-yet untapped, ally in the quest to deliver Alberta crude to the Far East could be Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo, who in the same Globe piece lamented the glacial pace of treaty negotiations and the resulting impact on industrial development. “What we have is the potential for perpetual and repeated conflict,” Chief Atleo told the paper. “That doesn’t do anyone any good. It has an adverse impact on not only relationships but overall the economy.”

Editors Note: This online column in Alberta Oil magazine by Jeff Lewis, is based on an interview with Enbridge Northern Gateway CEO  John Carruthers,with this quote

Carruthers, the company’s Gateway chief, reiterates the nation-building argument in the June edition of Alberta Oil. “Accessing alternative, large and growing markets provides critical value for Canadians…”

The Carruthers interview is not available online at this time,

A dire warning from a broken pipe: Globe and Mail

Globe and Mail

A dire warning from a broken pipe

The Rainbow spill is just the latest in a series of oil leaks in North America’s vast pipeline network over the past year, and comes as Canadian energy giants are pressing to win approval for some of their most ambitious projects to date. Those include TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline to ship oil sands crude to the Gulf of Mexico, and Enbridge Inc.’s Northern Gateway pipeline to take Alberta crude to the British Columbia coast for shipment to then to Asia, a plan that faces fierce opposition from first nations.