Portland Montreal Pipeline

A combination of pipelines and ships delivers some 4 MMb/d of transportation and heating fuels to the U.S. East Coast, most of it from Gulf Coast refineries. But there’s always room for improvement in refined products delivery infrastructure, whether it’s pipeline or port capacity expansions, new pipeline spurs, or new storage capability. The aim of these projects is almost always the same: to make distribution more efficient and to hold down the per-barrel cost of delivery. Today, we conclude our series with a look at possible infrastructure improvements and a note about the challenges these projects face.

After a year’s delay due to permit issues, Enbridge now expects the expanded and reversed 300 Mb/d Line 9B pipeline to Montreal will come online next month (November 2015). The pipeline is an important cog in Enbridge’s Eastern Access and Light Oil Market Access expansion projects and will supply mostly light crude to two refineries in Quebec. As we explain today, the payload will travel a winding route to get to Montreal.

Enbridge expect their Line 9 reversal to be complete in October 2014. By the end of 2014 this pipeline will deliver 300 Mb/d of mainly light crude to two refineries in Quebec. But the Line 9 reversal will likely not have capacity to ship any crude for export – either from Canada’s East Coast or via the Portland-Montreal pipeline to Maine. Significant crude deliveries east of Quebec will have to wait for TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline in 2018. Today we explain why in the final episode of our series on feeding crude to eastern Canadian refineries.