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Endless pipeline battles
Coastal GasLink serving LNG Canada back before British Columbia Supreme Court; arguments over progress of Trans Mountain expansion Gary Park Petroleum News
One thing is certain about energy pipelines being laid across British Columbia to export terminals on the Pacific Coast - even when feuding over the projects seems resolved it isn’t.
The one venture that was brought to its knees was Enbridge’s plan to build Northern Gateway, to deliver 550,000 barrels per day of oil sands bitumen to a tanker port at Prince Rupert.
Two others - Coastal GasLink to deliver an initial 2.1 billion cubic feet per day, then 5 bcf/day of natural gas to Kitimat for liquefaction destined for Asia and expansion of the aged Trans Mountain crude pipeline to triple capacity to 890,000 bpd to a tanker terminal in the Greater Vancouver area - have since borne the brunt of court action and public protests.
They continue to face resistance, regardless of accumulating a string of legal and political victories.
Over the past four months, construction on the 420-mile, C$6.6 billion Coastal GasLink in British Columbia has been ramped up, after being halted by a First Nations rail blockade that spread across Canada, coinciding with a work shutdown stemming from COVID-19.
Court battles not over But the court battles that have tied up progress are apparently far from over. Leaders of the Wet’suwet’en, who initiated the rail closure that choked off the movement of goods conservatively valued at C$500 million, are now back in the British Columbia Supreme Court.
The case is based on an attempt by the Wet’suwet’en to quash an order a year ago extending a British Columbia government environmental assessment certificate, nearly five years after a certificate was first issued.
Attorneys for the Wet’suwet’en told a judge on Oct. 1 that a further evaluation is needed to remove the potential risk of violence to Indigenous women posed by pipeline workers
They also pointed to more than 50 instances of Coastal GasLink’s failure to observe existing conditions.
Karrie Wolfe, a lawyer for the Environment Assessment Office, told the court that quashing the extension could leave the pipeline in a “vacuum.”
Attorneys for Coastal GasLink are scheduled to present their arguments on Oct. 16.
Leadership changes A further upheaval occurred in mid-September when TC Energy named Tracy Robinson as the new president of Coastal GasLink, but gave no indication why David Pfeiffer, who was head of the project for 19 months, left TC Energy.
TC Energy now owns 35% of the pipeline after selling 65% in May to Alberta Investment Management Corp. and KKR & Co. and has set aside 10% for possible sale to 20 First Nations along the pipeline route.
In addition, Russ Girling, chief executive officer of TC Energy for 10 years, announced he is retiring and will be replaced by chief operating officer Francois Poirier. Girling’s term has been dominated by a battle to obtain approvals and launch construction of the US$8.8 billion Keystone XL pipeline to transport up to 830,000 bpd of oil sands bitumen from Alberta to Nebraska.
Trans Mountain issues Separately, the C$12.6 billion expansion of Trans Mountain continues to attract disagreements at the same time the project has entered fall with 5,600 workers at hundreds of sites along the 660-mile route.
In its latest filings, Trans Mountain - owned outright by the Canadian government - said it remains on track to enter service by late 2022, while environmentalists insist the project is at least two months behind schedule.
Other opponents continue to hammer on their theme that the 590,000 bpd addition to Trans Mountain makes less and less sense after Teck Resources pulled out of its C$20 billion plan to build the Frontier oil sands mine and France’s Total wrote down its oil sands assets by C$9.3 billion.
Trans Mountain spokeswoman Ali Hounsel said the company has the flexibility within its vast undertaking to adjust its timetable while keeping to its target dates.
She said 13 major customers are committed to use the expansion. They have “made 15- to 20-year commitments for 80% of the expanded capacity,” she said.
On the ownership front, the Canadian government said it is still holding talks with 129 First Nations across Canada to determine if they wish to acquire stakes in the pipeline.
But one group - Iron Coalition made up of three First Nations in Alberta - is reportedly no longer vying for an equity position, leaving the Western Indigenous Pipeline Group (comprising 66 First Nations) and Project Reconciliation, which is open to participation from Indigenous communities in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, to pursue ownership.
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