They literally moved mountains to get it built. And spent 12 years and more than $34 billion in taxpayer dollars to do it.But there will be no dignitaries or public ceremonies to mark the start of Canada’s first offshore oil pipeline when the Trans Mountain expansion finally ships its first barrel next month. No ribbons will be cut and no speeches will be made to commemorate what is arguably the most important — and expensive — infrastructure project since the Last Spike was driven into the Canadian Pacific Railway at Craigellachie, BC in 1885.In a one-line statement to The Western Standard a Trans Mountain spokesperson said: “Currently, there will be no media or external event.”.It’s a decidedly circumspect beginning for a pipeline that has consumed the public consciousness since it was first conceived in 2012. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has complained that buying the line hasn’t brought him any votes among his base supporters down east so it’s not surprising he would want to distance himself from it ahead of an election.Meanwhile, industry types in Alberta — while happy to finally get it up and running — are still seething at the time and money to get it built.“It's an indictment on a government's energy policy if the government has to build a pipeline,” former Conservative leader Andrew Scheer told an audience of energy executives in Calgary on Tuesday. “That is, that's a terrible state to try to get a gold star for using taxpayer dollars to do what private investors used to.”.Tristan Goodman of the Explorers and Producers Association of Canada (EPAC) was more blunt. “And $30 billion to build a pipeline? That's shameful. By any standard. That's not any sort of subjective statement. It's a comparative analysis.” As recently as 2019, when it was bought by the Liberal government, it was projected to cost $7.3 billion. But indeterminate delays, court challenges, a pandemic and a massive generational flood in the Lower Mainland managed to push that total up more than five times its original estimate.And that final figure could inch higher between now and May 1, its official start date. Assuming it actually starts by then.That’s because a group of shippers including Suncor Energy, BP and Marathon Petroleum on Tuesday filed a letter with the Canadian Energy Regulator (CER) questioning whether Trans Mountain will be able to deliver contracted volumes effective that date given that some sections have yet to be signed off by the regulator.They’re concerned that they will be obligated to begin paying tolls starting on that date whether it’s ready or not.“While it is possible that Trans Mountain might be able to complete the physical construction of Expansion facilities by May 1, 2024, there appears to be a real likelihood that those facilities will not be capable of providing Firm Service at that time,” said the letter on the CER website..In its statement, Trans Mountain said all deliveries for all shippers will be subject to the expanded system tariff and tolls starting May 1, no exception. Final line fill on the new line segments will be completed in early May and deliveries will commence from three berths at the Burnaby terminal.“Due to logistics and marine timing, we don’t expect the first ship to load from line 2 until the second half of May.”First cargoes are expected to go to China and the US West Coast. It’s a welcome development that will provide price relief for producers — and higher royalties to the Alberta government — in the form of lower discounts to US prices..But it also speaks to a broken regulatory process that desperately needs fixing, Canadian Association of Energy Contractors (CAOEC) president Mark Scholz said in an interview.“It took 12 years and $35 billion. On top of that we had a private company that wanted to put money and actually build the pipeline, and we had to nationalize it,” he told The Western Standard. “So, to me that says that our system or regulatory system is not working properly. So we have to fix that, particularly if we want to be serious on the international stage of being a supplier of choice.”
