Reversing the flow of an Enbridge oil pipeline running through the Greater Toronto Area will help maintain competition at southern Ontario gas pumps, company officials say.
And Enbridge told the Toronto Star’s editorial board that it may hold public information sessions in the Toronto area to make the case for the project, which is being viewed with a quizzical eye by Toronto city council.
Enbridge’s Line 9, built in the 1970s, runs between Sarnia to Montreal.
Until recently, it carried imported oil from the east coast westward.
Last year, Enbridge won permission to reverse the flow of half the line – from Sarnia to the Westover terminal near Hamilton – in order to supply an Imperial Oil refinery in Nanticoke with western Canadian crude oil.
Now, Enbridge wants to reverse the flow of the remainder of the line, to carry western oil all the way to refineries in Montreal.
Last summer, Enbridge held public information sessions about the project in Port Hope, Corbyville, Gananoque, Maitland, and Marintown.
None were held in Toronto, Mississauga or Hamilton.
The company is now thinking about holding sessions in larger cities, according to six Enbridge officials who visited the Toronto Star yesterday, in the wake of a motion by Toronto city council asking for more information about the project.
In Toronto, the underground line runs the width of the city, mostly following the hydro right of way near Finch Ave.
Although there have been no public open houses in Toronto, Enbridge has met with a range of city politicians and staff, including officials with Toronto Water, said Enbridge’s Glenn Herchak.
The line crosses all Toronto’s rivers, and is upstream from Toronto water treatment plants.
The goal of the project is to deliver western Canadian oil to Quebec refineries, who currently depend on foreign oil, said Herchak.
Offshore oil is priced about $25 a barrel higher than western Canadian crude, putting the Quebec refineries at a competitive disadvantage, he said.
It’s in the interest of Ontario drivers to keep these refineries in business and competing in the Ontario marketplace, he said:
“The potential loss of two Canadian refineries in this marketplace would be significant.”
Enbridge says most of the oil moving through the line will be conventional or synthetic crude, rather than diluted bitumen, or dilbit, from the oil sands.
Critics of the project have said Enbridge wants to pipe large volumes of oil sands crude to east coast export terminals – a project Enbridge proposed in 2008.
Herchak said that’s no longer the case, because Enbridge has found an outlet for that production through U.S. pipelines to the Gulf of Mexico.
“This project stops in Montreal. Full stop,” he insisted.
Herchak also said the company has completely overhauled its operating procedures since a pipeline break in Kalamazoo, Mich. in 2010 so that operating errors won’t be duplicated.
“We have taken great strides to take the human element out of the decision making process, so the plans and processes we have in place are followed,” he said.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigation concluded last year that Enbridge’s operations were infected by a “culture of deviance,” and said Enbridge employees “performed like Keystone Kops” in Michigan.
Pipeline controllers in Edmonton were unaware a break had occurred for 17 hours, and tried to re-start the pipeline twice during that period.
Herchak said procedures now call for officials to investigate on the ground when there’s indication of a break before more oil can be pumped through the line.
The National Energy Board has slated hearings on the project for August. Toronto council has asked for a further staff report in July, and has asked the board to be allowed to participate in the proceedings.
Original Article
Source: thestar.com
Author: John Spears
And Enbridge told the Toronto Star’s editorial board that it may hold public information sessions in the Toronto area to make the case for the project, which is being viewed with a quizzical eye by Toronto city council.
Enbridge’s Line 9, built in the 1970s, runs between Sarnia to Montreal.
Until recently, it carried imported oil from the east coast westward.
Last year, Enbridge won permission to reverse the flow of half the line – from Sarnia to the Westover terminal near Hamilton – in order to supply an Imperial Oil refinery in Nanticoke with western Canadian crude oil.
Now, Enbridge wants to reverse the flow of the remainder of the line, to carry western oil all the way to refineries in Montreal.
Last summer, Enbridge held public information sessions about the project in Port Hope, Corbyville, Gananoque, Maitland, and Marintown.
None were held in Toronto, Mississauga or Hamilton.
The company is now thinking about holding sessions in larger cities, according to six Enbridge officials who visited the Toronto Star yesterday, in the wake of a motion by Toronto city council asking for more information about the project.
In Toronto, the underground line runs the width of the city, mostly following the hydro right of way near Finch Ave.
Although there have been no public open houses in Toronto, Enbridge has met with a range of city politicians and staff, including officials with Toronto Water, said Enbridge’s Glenn Herchak.
The line crosses all Toronto’s rivers, and is upstream from Toronto water treatment plants.
The goal of the project is to deliver western Canadian oil to Quebec refineries, who currently depend on foreign oil, said Herchak.
Offshore oil is priced about $25 a barrel higher than western Canadian crude, putting the Quebec refineries at a competitive disadvantage, he said.
It’s in the interest of Ontario drivers to keep these refineries in business and competing in the Ontario marketplace, he said:
“The potential loss of two Canadian refineries in this marketplace would be significant.”
Enbridge says most of the oil moving through the line will be conventional or synthetic crude, rather than diluted bitumen, or dilbit, from the oil sands.
Critics of the project have said Enbridge wants to pipe large volumes of oil sands crude to east coast export terminals – a project Enbridge proposed in 2008.
Herchak said that’s no longer the case, because Enbridge has found an outlet for that production through U.S. pipelines to the Gulf of Mexico.
“This project stops in Montreal. Full stop,” he insisted.
Herchak also said the company has completely overhauled its operating procedures since a pipeline break in Kalamazoo, Mich. in 2010 so that operating errors won’t be duplicated.
“We have taken great strides to take the human element out of the decision making process, so the plans and processes we have in place are followed,” he said.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigation concluded last year that Enbridge’s operations were infected by a “culture of deviance,” and said Enbridge employees “performed like Keystone Kops” in Michigan.
Pipeline controllers in Edmonton were unaware a break had occurred for 17 hours, and tried to re-start the pipeline twice during that period.
Herchak said procedures now call for officials to investigate on the ground when there’s indication of a break before more oil can be pumped through the line.
The National Energy Board has slated hearings on the project for August. Toronto council has asked for a further staff report in July, and has asked the board to be allowed to participate in the proceedings.
Original Article
Source: thestar.com
Author: John Spears
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