Ivanhoe’s Kipushi zinc mine in the DRC officially reopens
The restart marked exactly a century since the mine first went into production.
By Glen Korstrom
The fees that Kinder Morgan Canada Inc. plans to charge for transporting oil through its proposed $5.4 billion Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion between Alberta and Burrard Inlet were approved May 16 by Canada’s independent energy regulator.
The National Energy Board noted in a release that “the toll methodology as proposed by Trans Mountain will produce tolls that will be just, reasonable and not unjustly discriminatory.”
Kinder Morgan continues to seek approval to nearly triple shipments of Alberta oil to 890,000 barrels a day from 300,000 barrels today.
Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU) had argued that the Canadian subsidiary of Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE:KMI) was planning to use its position as the only owner of a pipeline to Canada’s west coast to charge excessive fees.
“The decision reinforces the market support for our expansion plans and it provides us the necessary economic certainty to proceed,” said Kinder Morgan Canada president Ian Anderson.
Potential expansion of Kinder Morgan’s pipeline played a role in the recent provincial election campaign.
BC NDP leader Adrian Dix surprised many with an Earth Day announcement that he was opposed to the expansion.
Premier Christy Clark pointed to that stance as an example of how Dix was too quick to oppose resource projects.
Kinder Morgan has not yet made an application to the National Energy Board for the pipeline expansion. Clark said Dix should have waited until the company had made that application, which is expected later this year.
The project is expected to include a new 36-inch pipeline alongside the existing pipeline and new storage tanks in Edmonton, Abbotsford and Burnaby. It will also likely involve an expansion of Kinder Morgan’s Westridge marine terminal to three berths from one.
