The operator of the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) crude pipeline to Canada's west coast intends to narrow the line's specifications following shipper concerns about quality.
Trans Mountain is planning to lower the upper limits of the vapor pressure and total acid number (TAN) on its newly minted 590,000 b/d TMX to better align with other export pipelines, at the request of shippers and other market participants.
The Low TAN Dilbit pool will also be renamed Pacific Cold Lake, federally owned Trans Mountain told the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) in a 14 June filing.
Pacific Cold Lake, a diluted bitumen, will have a maximum TAN of 1.1mg KOH/g, down from the current 1.3 mg KOH/g.
Heavy grades that have a TAN higher than 1.1mg KOH/g will move under the Pacific Dilbit banner. Higher TAN crudes require metallurgy upgrades and are corrosive at high temperatures, making it undesirable to many refiners, according to shippers.
Vapor pressure limits for all heavy grades will also be set at 70 kPa at 37.8°C from 1 May to 30 November and 76 kPa from 1 December to 30 April. This is down from 103 kPa, which Trans Mountain in May had argued is more like 86 kPa when doing the appropriate test.
Comments on the proposed changes are being accepted through 28 June, with the new specifications to take effect on 1 September.
Consultations on the matter began with shippers in December 2023 but became public when Canadian Natural Resources (CNRL), concerned with progress, launched a regulatory complaint saying the current quality specifications "will disrupt trade and create market inefficiencies".
The letter was supported by fellow oil sands producers, which will also ship on the line connecting Edmonton, Alberta, to Burnaby, British Columbia, as well as by two California refiners who suggested the looser limits may even prevent them from buying TMX crude because tanks would not be able to handle it.
TMX nearly tripled the capacity of the original 300,000 b/d Trans Mountain system when it went into service on 1 May.
By Brett Holmes
