Christopher E. Smith
OGJ Pipeline Editor
HOUSTON, Aug. 27 -- Enbridge Inc. announced Aug. 26 it entered into an agreement with Suncor Energy Inc. to build a 95-km, 30-in. OD crude oil pipeline, the Wood Buffalo Pipeline, connecting the Enbridge Athabasca Terminal, adjacent to Suncor's oil sands plant, to the Cheecham Terminal, which is the origin point of Enbridge's Waupisoo Pipeline.
The 380-km Waupisoo line delivers as much as 345,000 b/d of oil from several oil sands projects via the Cheecham Terminal to the Edmonton main line hub. Enbridge announced in June shipper commitments backing plans to expand the line to 600,000 b/d by second-half 2013 (OGJ Online, June 28, 2010).
The Wood Buffalo line will parallel Enbridge's existing Athabasca Pipeline between the Athabasca and Cheecham terminals. Suncor's existing commitments on the Athabasca Pipeline will remain in place. Pending regulatory approval, the new line will enter service by mid-2013.
Enbridge has spent $1.6 billion on its Regional Oil Sands System over the past year, saying the new facilities are intended to meet the future needs of the Imperial Oil-ExxonMobil Kearl project and the recently added Statoil Leismer project.
Contact Christopher E. Smith at [email protected].
Photo from Trans Mountain.
US Government Accountability Office.
