Enbridge plans to resume oil sands shipments in northern Alberta over the next few days after a massive forest fire caused the pipeline company to shut operations on 4 May.
Enbridge said its Athabasca and Cheecham terminals had no damage from the fires, but a few locations along pipeline corridors had minor damage and are without power.
Enbridge resumed operations at Cheecham yesterday and began injecting crude volumes into the Waupisoo and Athabasca pipelines using inventory built up in its tanks.
Enbridge is ready to start up the Woodland pipeline, but may not be able to access the right of way because firefighting efforts are still underway, said chief executive Al Monaco, while discussing first quarter earnings.
Enbridge is hoping to start the Athabasca line this weekend. The fire reduced volumes into the Enbridge system by 900,000 b/d.
Crude volumes in the first quarter on Enbridge's mainline system averaged a record 2.5mn b/d, as several large projects came into service during the fourth quarter of 2015. This includes the reversal and expansion of the 300,000 b/d Line 9B, which moves crude from Westover, Ontario, to Montreal, Quebec, giving refineries access to oil production in western Canada and the western US. Also new is the 300,000 b/d Southern Access Extension, which transports crude from the Flanagan terminal near Pontiac, Illinois, to Patoka, Illinois.
The mainline remains well positioned as western Canadian production is expected to increase over the next few years, the company said.
Enbridge said it continues to make progress with First Nations and Metis (aboriginal) groups on its 525,000 b/d Northern Gateway crude pipeline project. Thirty one such groups are in support of the project, Monaco said.
Northern Gateway would deliver diluted bitumen from Bruderheim, Alberta, to the port at Kitimat, British Columbia, and backhaul 193,000 b/d of condensate diluent on a twin line. The project has been on the books for more than a decade but has been opposed by environmentalists, several aboriginal groups and others. The National Energy Board approved the project in 2013, subject to 209 conditions.
Enbridge on 6 May asked the NEB to extend a permit for Northern Gateway by three years, citing uncertainties with legal challenges and the need to build stronger relationships with First Nations. Enbridge is seeking to move the deadline to start building the oil pipeline from 31 December 2016 to 31 December 2019. The company has said it is open to changing the route of Northern Gateway, but would not give specifics today on the possible location of another terminus.
"We have an approved project to Kitimat. That's what we're focused on," Monaco said.
