NEB approves application to open Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline lateral

Aug. 16, 2000
The Canadian National Energy Board, Calgary, approved an application from Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline Management Ltd. to open the Point Tupper pipeline lateral. The Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline carries gas from the Sable Offshore Energy Project off Nova Scotia to markets in Canada and the US Northeast.


The Canadian National Energy Board (NEB), Calgary, this week approved an application from Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline Management Ltd. (M&NP) to open the Point Tupper pipeline lateral.

The Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline carries gas from the Sable Offshore Energy Project off Nova Scotia to markets in Canada and the US Northeast (OGJ, Aug. 7, 2000, p. 66).

Approved by NEB in January 1999, the Point Tupper lateral consists of 34 miles of 8-in. diameter pipeline laid from a point near Goldboro, NS, to the delivery point at the Sable Offshore Energy Inc. (SOEI) fractionation plant in Point Tupper. SOEI is also operator for the offshore project.

Construction of the Point Tupper lateral, between the M&NP mainline and the SOEI fractionation plant, was done at the same time as the SOEI natural gas liquids pipeline, with both installed in the same trench.

NEB said the lateral could be opened if the pipeline is operated at a maximum operating pressure of 4,710 kPa, resulting in an operating stress of 30% of the specified minimum yield strength of the pipeline material.

M&NP applied for permission to open the Point Tupper lateral in December 1999. As part of its application, M&NP filed a pipeline integrity engineering assessment. In February, NEB advised M&NP that it wasn't satisfied that the information filed demonstrated that the Point Tupper lateral could be safely opened for the transmission of natural gas.

In April, M&NP and SOEI filed a technical plan, amended June 23, to address the board's concerns with respect to the integrity and safety of the Point Tupper lateral.