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Activists raise stakes Shut down 5 pipelines carrying oil sands crude from Canada into US; 10 arrests GARY PARK For Petroleum News
The prospect of civil unrest targeting Canada’s energy pipeline network has long been an unspoken fear in government and industry circles. Until now, that is.
A group of 10 climate-change activists were arrested Oct. 11 after forcing the shutdown - in Montana, Minnesota, North Dakota and Washington state - of five major transportation systems carrying crude from the Alberta oil sands to Lower 48 markets.
U.S.-based Climate Direct Action posted photos and videos of members from the recently formed protest group cutting chains surrounding pipeline facilities and turning off valves.
It said the shutdowns were in support of anti-pipeline protests in North and South Dakota led by the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and were intended to force the U.S. government to enact tougher measures on climate change by banning new fossil fuel extraction and end the use of oil sands crude and coal.
Most serious escalation yet The move marks the most serious escalation yet against the oil sands sector and the Alberta government’s efforts to gain access to global markets, moving the level of protest beyond vocal opposition to the construction of new pipelines, or expanding existing links.
“Forget building any new infrastructure, what we need to do is stop the existing infrastructure that is transporting and extracting crude,” said a CDA spokeswoman.
The four pipelines affected by the “tampering” incidents were:
•Enbridge’s Line 4 and Line 67 facilities in Minnesota that are key elements of the transportation link from Edmonton, Alberta, to Superior, Wisconsin, which handles the bulk of Canadian crude exports to the U.S.
•TransCanada’s existing Keystone line in North Dakota, which has capacity of 550,000 barrels per day over 2,500 miles from Alberta to the U.S. Midwest.
•Kinder Morgan’s pipeline system in Puget Sound of Washington state, which his linked to the Trans Mountain pipeline which carries 180,000 bpd.
•Spectra Energy’s 720-mile Express pipeline which carries 280,000 bpd from central Alberta to Wood River, Illinois.
Safety concerns cited Enbridge said the “actions taken to unlawfully trespass on our facility ... and tamper with energy infrastructure were reckless and dangerous.”
It said the activists put at risk the safety of themselves, first responders and neighboring communities and landowners.
Ian Anderson, president of Kinder Morgan Canada, said his company had already been in “deep” conversations with policing authorities, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, to prepare for construction blockades if the Canadian government issues an approval later this year for an increase in Trans Mountain’s capacity to 890,000 bpd.
Kinder Morgan is also providing explicit instructions to contractors should they encounter protesters, taking lessons from clashes in North Dakota over the US$3.7 billion Dakota Access pipeline.
Anderson told reporters he would be “naive” if he didn’t expect blockades, but added he hopes that municipalities and 41 First Nations that endorse the Trans Mountain expansion have dispelled any notion that opposition to the C$6.8 billion project is unanimous.
Chris Bloomer, chief executive officer of the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, said he has no problem with demonstrators voicing opinions about energy development, but no one should condone the actions taken in the U.S.
He said activists “need to recognize that an unauthorized and unscheduled valve closure on any pipeline could result in unpredicted pressure changes, which can pose some extremely serious risks.”
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