Here’s an article from Reuters about the possible cancellation of the Energy East pipeline project. Plans include a portion of pipeline that travels just west of Stittsvill, as shown in the map above. .About 70km of existing natural gas pipeline near Ottawa would be converted to carry crude oil.
TransCanada Corp (TRP.TO) seeks to suspend the application for its Energy East pipeline for 30 days and may abandon the project, the company said on Thursday, weeks after Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) announced a tougher review process.
TransCanada will do a “careful review” of the new assessment process to gauge its effect on the costs, schedules and viability of the pipeline to the Atlantic coast, the company said in a statement.
The NEB in August expanded the scope of Energy East’s review, saying it will consider the project’s indirect greenhouse gas contributions and will provide “more visibility” to the evaluation of risks associated with accidents such as oil spills.
The regulator said on Thursday it will consider TransCanada’s request to pause its Energy East application and will make a decision “in a timely fashion.”
Energy East, which would take crude from Canada’s oil heartland of Alberta, would attain higher prices for Canadian producers, whose landlocked product trades at a discount to the West Texas Intermediate benchmark.
Assessing indirect emissions had been opposed by TransCanada, which had called it “completely redundant and unnecessary.”
In a filing to the regulator on Thursday, TransCanada also requested an extension to the deadline for filing Energy East updates to Oct. 27.
Should TransCanada abandon the project, “the carrying value of its investment … as well as its ability to recover development costs incurred to date would be negatively impacted,” the company said.
TransCanada said it will continue to advance its other projects despite pausing Energy East.
Just a question? Why don’t they refine the oil where it’s produced? Surely that would be better for all of us, and for Canada to have it done “at home”?