The federally-owned Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) crude pipeline in western Canada remains on track to be in-service within the next three months, according to a senior executive.
"Very soon the expansion will come into service," Trans Mountain's chief financial and strategy officer Mark Maki told the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday, reiterating the plan to start operations in the second quarter.
The 590,000 b/d line will nearly triple the flow of Canadian crude to the country's west coast, complementing the original 300,000 b/d line that moves both crude and refined products. Oil sands producers have been eyeing customers in China, Korea and Japan but much of the volumes should initially be placed in closer markets like California.
"Those growing markets are going to be in the Pacific Rim," said Maki. "For Canada's that's a huge deal."
Trans Mountain in late February made a call for a combined 4.2mn bl of crude from shippers starting in April as it prepares to fill the new pipeline. This signaled growing confidence the lengthy project would finally be placed into service after repeated delays.
A difficult tunnel in British Columbia where Trans Mountain was forced to make a second attempt to install the pipe is the latest in a series of challenges for the expansion.
The project has been in the works for more than a decade as regulatory delays, political and environmental resistance, court orders, wildfires, floods, Covid-19 measures, and rising labor costs caused by competing pipelines were among the unforeseen challenges causing the project to fall well behind schedule and well above budget.
The project is now expected to cost C$34bn ($25bn), roughly six times the original C$5.5bn estimate when it was first proposed in 2013. It was originally expected to be in service as early as December 2017.
TMX will be the first pipeline in decades offering Canadian producers meaningful access to international markets without crossing the US.
