Trans Mountain resumes work on pipeline in British Columbia (updated)

Canada Energy Partners

14/11/2023 17:42

(Adds details on Trans Mountain expansion)
       OTTAWA, Nov 14 (Reuters) - The Trans Mountain oil
pipeline expansion project on Tuesday said it had been allowed
to resume work in a wetland area near Abbotsford, British
Columbia, after correcting issues raised by the Canada Energy
Regulator (CER).
    Earlier this month the CER ordered a halt on an 800-meter
stretch after inspectors found several environmental and
safety-related non-compliances.
    "Trans Mountain has received a notice to resume work from
the Canada Energy Regulator ... Trans Mountain corrected all
non-compliances in the region and is conducting safety
inspections of all active sites to prevent any re-occurrence,"
it said in an emailed statement.
    The stop work order was the latest in a string of delays for
the 590,000 barrel-per-day expansion project, which will nearly
triple the flow of crude from Alberta to Canada's Pacific Coast
once completed.
    Trans Mountain has said the expanded pipeline will start
shipping crude late in the first quarter of 2024.
    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government bought
the pipeline in 2018 to ensure the expansion went ahead. The
project is expected to cost C$30.9 billion ($22.54 billion),
more than four times the original estimate.
($1 = 1.3708 Canadian dollars)

 (Reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa and Nia Williams in
British Columbia; editing by Barbara Lewis)
 ((david.ljunggren@tr.com; +1 647 480 7891;))