Key development in achieving fair market value for Canadian resources
Enbridge’s new 3,000-mile North American crude oil pipeline pathway received an official welcome on Friday.
The completion of the Flanagan South and the Seaway Twin pipeline projects, when connected with Enbridge’s pre-existing network, represent the energy industry’s first large-volume, full-path solution for delivering Western Canadian crude to the heavy-oil-hungry refining market in the Houston area.
This boost for North American energy security – a key initiative in achieving fair market value for Canadian natural resources – was marked on Friday in the Houston area with a recognition event that included dignitaries such as Canadian Minister of Natural Resources Greg Rickford and Alberta Premier Jim Prentice.
The event was held at the Seaway Jones Creek Terminal near Freeport, Texas – the terminus of the Seaway system, and a key distribution point into the U.S. Gulf Coast region, which has a refining capacity of more than eight million barrels per day.
“Our government welcomes today’s latest milestone contributing to already historic volumes of Canadian energy being supplied to the United States,” said Mr. Rickford. “Projects like these contribute to North American energy security and economic growth in both countries.”
Rickford, Prentice, Enbridge president and chief executive officer Al Monaco, and Enterprise Products Partners L.P. chief operating officer Jim Teague made public remarks at Friday’s event. Dignitaries and news media representatives were also taken on a tour of the Seaway Jones Creek Terminal.
“The completion of these pipelines creates the first large-volume, direct link of Canadian crude to the U.S. Gulf Coast, where North America’s largest concentration of heavy oil refineries is located,” said Mr. Prentice.
“The pipeline network will provide jobs, economic growth, and energy security to North America,” he added. “It is another important link in the world’s most successful energy partnership, and increased energy trade will benefit Canadians and Americans alike.”
Enbridge’s $2.8-billion Flanagan South pipeline, running 593 miles from Pontiac, Ill., to Cushing, Okla., went into service on Dec. 2, with a transportation capacity of about 585,000 barrels per day. The twinning of the Seaway Pipeline system, which runs 512 miles from Cushing to the Houston area, was completed Dec. 21 by Enbridge and Houston-based project partner Enterprise Products – and more than doubles the capacity of the Seaway system to 850,000 bpd.
Over the past two weeks, we’ve been chronicling the overall economic impact, the technical accomplishments, and the right-of-way community benefits of this new pipeline pathway.
By 2017, Enbridge’s various market access initiatives will open up 1.7-million bpd of new refining markets along our network – and 600,000 bpd of that total is represented by this new connection of Western Canadian heavy crude with the U.S. Gulf Coast refinery market.
“Marrying up Canadian crude with U.S. refining capability is a true continental synergy – and a competitive advantage for North America,” Mr. Monaco told reporters and tour guests on Friday.
“In the bigger picture, Canadian crude in the Gulf Coast will support energy security on this continent,” he added. “Access to the best markets. Efficient, safe, and reliable transportation. Energy security. These factors were always important, but are even more so given the current oil-price environment and the geopolitical risks we face.”
