New Canada Hearings For Kinder Morgan Pipeline Expansion Route
CALGARY, Alberta, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Canada's National Energy Board (NEB) will hold a series of public hearings beginning this year to determine the route for Kinder Morgan Inc's Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, the regulator said on Thursday.
While the expansion is federally approved, the NEB could force Kinder Morgan to tweak its route or impose further conditions, NEB chief environment officer Rob Steedman said in an interview.
When asked if the hearings would result in delays for Trans Mountain, Steedman said: "Some areas, there may be either negotiations or regulatory restrictions specified. We just don't know until we do each one individually."
Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd, the local division of Houston's Kinder Morgan Inc, has said it plans to start construction in September but that most major work will not happen this year.
The Trans Mountain expansion would nearly triple the capacity of the existing pipeline from Canada's oil heartland of Alberta to the west coast and significantly increase crude tanker traffic.
Canadian crude producers, whose landlocked product trades at a discount to the West Texas Intermediate benchmark, say they need more pipeline capacity to fetch better prices, but efforts to attain that have come under fierce opposition from environmental and aboriginal groups.
The NEB announced the route hearings after Kinder Morgan's planned path received 452 statements of opposition.
The route hearings, some of which are scheduled for next year, could last weeks, although they do not have firm dates for conclusion, or for when the NEB needs to render decisions, according to the regulator.
(Reporting by Ethan Lou; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
- Weatherford CEO's Rebound Plan Relies On Getting Smaller
- Iran Says Oil Market Is Too Tight For US Zero Exports Target
- China's Squeezed 'Teapots' Eye Petchem Path To Riches
- Baker Hughes: US Drillers Add Oil Rigs For Second Week In Three
- Venezuela Hands China More Oil Presence, But No Mention Of New Funds
- G7 Weighs Russia Oil Price Cap
- Exxon Considers Developing Hydrogen, Ammonia Production In Norway
- WTI and Henry Hub Appear Due for a Technical Correction
- Analysts Talk Biden Gasoline Tax Holiday
- Petrobras Clears Sale Of Several Espirito Santo Assets
- Cheniere Green Lights FID For Corpus Christi Stage 3 Project
- Libya Says It May Suspend Oil Exports from Key Terminals
- Gas Prices Freezing Americans into Staycations
- Eco Atlantic Increases Stake In Exciting License Off South Africa
- Targa Sells $1.25B Senior Notes To Fund Lucid Acquisition
- USA Navy and Iran Corps Clash in Strait of Hormuz
- Top Headlines: USA Navy and Iran Corps Clash in Strait of Hormuz and More
- Russian Oil Disappears as Tankers Go Dark
- USA Energy Sec Leads Meeting with 7 Major Oil Companies
- USA Refinery Capacity Drops
- These Are the Largest Energy Companies by Market Cap Right Now
- Oil and Gas Lease Sales in Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico Pushed Back
- New Mexico Oil Refinery Cost Doubles
- $150 Oil Could Still Happen. Here's How.
- Russian Oil Isn't Dead Yet
- USA Navy and Iran Corps Clash in Strait of Hormuz
- Oil Industry Responds to Biden Letter
- Rapidly Decaying Supertanker Could Explode at Any Time
- Oil Nosedives on Fed Inflation Actions
- Top Headlines: USA Navy and Iran Corps Clash in Strait of Hormuz and More
- Biden To Restart Idle Refineries To Tame Fuel Prices
- Top Headlines: Oil Industry Responds to Biden Letter and More
- Iran Seizes 2 Greek Tankers
- Too Early To Speculate on ExxonMobil Refinery Fire Cause
- Fitch Solutions Reveals Latest Oil Price Forecast