Terasen mirrors Kinder Morgan’s ambitions

Hot on the heels of its friendly takeover, Terasen Pipelines has swung into action with plans to carry upwards of 1.5 million barrels per day from Alberta’s oil sands region to the Edmonton refinery area.

Just a week after Kinder Morgan launched its blockbuster C$6.9 billion bid for its Vancouver-based parent company, Terasen Pipelines said Aug. 8 it has started engineering, environmental and consulting work on build an C$800 million pipeline alongside its existing Corridor system from the Shell Canada-operated Athabasca oil sands facility.

The new line will double Corridor capacity to 500,000 barrels per day when completed in 2009.

Rich Ballantyne, president of the pipelines’ unit, said the 270-mile system could eventually carry at least 1.5 million bpd, reinforcing the view of Kinder Morgan Chief Executive Officer Richard Kinder, who said Terasen’s connections to the oil sands are key to a “hellaciously significant” opportunity to serve North America’s energy future.

The next phase of Corridor will exclusively serve Shell Canada’s plans to expand the Athabasca operation, but Terasen President John Reid told analysts in July that talks are under way with Shell on “meaningful incremental opportunities in terms of third-party volumes.”

—Gary Park