The Canada Energy Regulator (CER) has confirmed that the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project still requires six “leave-to-open” permits before the new pipeline capacity can begin operations.
The 590,000 barrel-per-day expansion project, which is owned by the Canadian government, will nearly triple the flow of crude oil from Alberta to Canada’s Pacific Coast. This will open up access to new markets in Asia and the U.S. West Coast.
After years of construction delays and cost overruns, oil market participants have been closely watching for news on when the expansion will actually start transporting oil. Earlier this month, Trans Mountain had announced that the pipeline would begin operations on May 1.
However, the CER spokesperson stated that the regulator still has six outstanding leave-to-open applications from Trans Mountain that need to be approved before sections of the pipeline can begin operating. The CER has so far approved 36 out of the 42 leave-to-open applications received from the company.
Leave-to-open orders are the regulatory approval that signals a section of the pipeline can start operations. Each individual section of the pipeline expansion requires this approval from the CER before it can be brought into service.
The CER has typically been approving the leave-to-open applications within a week or two after they are submitted by Trans Mountain. However, the six remaining applications still need to be processed before the full expansion project can commence operations.