Similarly, Cenovus Energy, one of the country’s largest oilsands producers and a shipper on Trans Mountain, welcomed the project increasing access to additional markets.
“Completing the Trans Mountain expansion project will benefit all Canadians by opening up global markets and allowing us to capture higher global pricing,” the company said in a statement.
But it has taken a herculean effort, a decade of planning and more than $30 billion to get to this point.
The initial regulatory application for the project was made in 2013. Since then, the price tag has jumped to $30.9 billion (announced last March), up from $5.4 billion.
The project has faced opposition from environmental critics and the B.C. government of former premier John Horgan.
In 2018, the federal government bought the pipeline from Kinder Morgan Canada for $4.4 billion.
Analyst Jeremy McCrea of Raymond James called the regulator’s decision encouraging for the western Canadian oil sector after years of delay on the project.
“There is going to be a sigh of relief once it is on,” McCrea said.
“If it comes on at the end of March, I think that’s a win. If it gets delayed by one to two months, that is notionally where everyone has hedged their opinion. But if it takes longer than that, it could start to frustrate.”
The extended timeline and cost also underscore how complex this project has been to finish.
Jean hopes that lower oil-price differentials and additional pipeline capacity encourage future oilsands investment in growth projects, but says it’s also important that Canada streamline its regulatory process for new energy infrastructure in the future.
“This particular project has seen a huge number of obstacles and a huge cost overrun,” he said.
“I’m hoping that the federal government has learned its lesson on this.”
Chris Varcoe is a Calgary Herald columnist.
cvarcoe@postmedia.com
https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/varcoe-trans-mountain-pipeline-expansion-operation-weeks
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