“What a long strange trip it’s been.”Trans Mountain CFO Mark Maki borrowed from the Grateful Dead lyric to sum up the 12-year, 1,200 kilometre journey from Edmonton to the West Coast at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston on Wednesday.But he’s probably just grateful after more than a decade of legal challenges, pandemics and floods of Biblical proportions that caused major delays. Maki also said completed segments of the line had begun filling with oil and the company expects it to be in service by July 1, Canada Day..To that end, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Chinese state owned Sinochem had purchased one of the first cargoes to move from Burnaby when it is finally up and running.One final piece of pipe is expected to be installed in the coming weeks, followed by testing and inspecting facilities.After that — and nearly $35 billion tax dollars later — roughly 880,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) will be loaded on tankers and floated through the Straits of Georgia. When the federal government bought it in 2018 the price had already doubled to $7.4 billion.Although Maki made his comments in jest, there was an element of serious and concern for the way future infrastructure projects will be built in this country.“Twelve years from beginning to in-service. That's too long," he told delegates. "We're happy. We're getting to the end and that's a reason to be proud and we’re doing something that I think is good for the country.".Speaking at the conference, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the pipeline is the first step in Alberta doubling its oil and gas production — she also thinks Ottawa should have backed the cancelled Northern Gateway as well.“So I think we should just double down and decide we're going to double our oil and gas production,” she said. Though Alberta would have to add another 2.5 million bpd to even come close to that figure, Smith has previously called it an “aspirational” target.But already, oil producers are expanding production. Canada is expected to lead the world in production growth as a result, firmly cementing its position as the world’s fourth largest producer.Trans Mountain is also expected to result in higher prices for discounted Canadian barrels and in turn, higher royalty and tax revenue for both the Alberta and federal governments. The Chinese shipment was reportedly sold for just USD$5 less than the August Brent futures price, which is presently trading at $84. By way of comparison, Western Canadian Select was fetching $69.
