Continued pipeline delays & bottlenecksFrom the Orlando Sentinel:
Many traders in Canada's oil capital Calgary were therefore dismayed by news earlier this year that phase one of the Alberta Clipper expansion would be delayed from mid-2014. Boosting capacity by 350,000 bpd from Hardisty, Alberta, and Superior, Wisconsin, will help ease congestion on that part of the system.
Earlier this month
Enbridge Energy Partners President Mark Maki said it would likely be delayed until July 2015 as the firm works through a further environmental review by the U.S. Department of State, which must clear the project because it crosses international borders.
Alberta Clipper has not drawn the same degree of condemnation from environmentalists as Keystone XL, in its sixth year awaiting a permit, yet both would ultimately serve the same ends: getting more oil sands crude to U.S. refiners
"There's some trepidation about whether Clipper will run into the same problems as Keystone," a trader with a major Canadian oil producer said. "Apportionment is just going to move further upstream."
The last paragraph in the article is quite telling, considering that TD mentioned that CUS will be signing a refiner as its 4
th customer:
“Certain refiners such as
BP Plc's 405,000 bpd facility in Whiting, Indiana, recently reconfigured to run more heavy Canadian crude, and
Exxon Mobil Corp's 238,600 bpd refinery in
Joliet, Illinois, could continue to see crude nominations rationed, traders warned.”
The article mentions several pipelines that will be expanded within the US (The Chicago area) however the real bottleneck remains at the Alberta/US border. This is why I am very confident that CUS will be able to operate its facility at full capacity once fully operational.
Regards,
Nawar