Enbridge has backing for pipeline

Enbridge and Enbridge Energy Partners have industry backing to proceed with the US$2 billion Alberta Clipper pipeline from Hardisty, Alberta, to Superior, Wis., and a C$300 million line extension in Alberta to ease bottlenecking.

The scheduled in-service dates are late 2008 for the line extension and late-2009 to mid-2010 for Alberta Clipper.

The Clipper project involves construction of a new 36-inch diameter, 1,000-mile pipeline, with initial capacity of 450,000 barrels per day from the Alberta oil sands and a design capacity of up to 800,000 bpd.

To balance the increased capacity into Superior, Enbridge’s 42-inch Southern Access line to Chicago will be undertaken at a cost of US$100 million.

Enbridge Chief Executive Officer Pat Daniel said Clipper will be his company’s largest project yet.

He said timing has been accelerated in response to shipper priorities to gain increased access to U.S. markets following decisions by U.S. refineries to process more Canadian crude.

The construction of a new full line will provide “both a significant increase in capacity and also increased flexibility to align the system with a range of synthetic crude and blended bitumen production slates,” Daniel said.

Purvin & Gertz has estimated that net shipments from Western Canada could grow to 2.3 million bpd in 2010 from the current 1.68 million bpd, with heavy oil capacity demand rising about 450,000 bpd to 1.55 million bpd.

To meet some of that demand TransCanada has signed shipper commitments of 340,000 bpd for its planned 435,000 bpd Keystone pipeline from Hardisty to Wood River and Patoka in Illinois.

—Gary Park