Regulatory approvals needed for the 590,000 b/d Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) crude pipeline in western Canada are coming down to the wire on the eve of entering commercial service.
The major crude pipeline last week maintained its plan to start commercial operations on 1 May, but three filings remain under assessment by the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) with less than 24 hours to go.
Federally-owned Trans Mountain requires all sections, called spreads, of the pipeline to receive regulatory blessing before the line can be put into service. Outstanding are applications pertaining to Spread 5B Part 3, which runs from kilometer post 1064 to 1067, according to CER's website. The segment is near Hope, British Columbia, about 140 kilometers (87 miles) east of the line's terminus in Burnaby.
The three applications concern piping, valves and other components at two pipeline inspection gauge (pig) traps and the mainline pipe between the two traps. The traps were added for safety assurance when the operator was allowed by CER to use a smaller diameter pipe as part of the Mountain 3 deviation.
Mountain 3 was the last segment of the pipeline to be constructed because of delays relating to difficult terrain while tunneling.
TMX will nearly triple the existing 300,000 b/d Trans Mountain system that connects oil-rich Alberta to the docks in Burnaby, British Columbia. Importantly, the line will provide Canadian oil sands producers with a significant export outlet without having to first go through the US.
The "golden weld" marking the end of construction occurred on 11 April, according to Trans Mountain.
A group of shippers last week expressed concern that TMX would not be ready for commercial service by 1 May.
Spreads 6, 7A and 7B stretching from kilometer post 1075 to 1180 were approved earlier in the week, bringing the total number of approvals up to 39.
The expansion was first conceived more than a decade ago with the intention of being operational by late-2017, but that date slipped amid cost overruns and repeated delays.
