OTTAWA, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Canada's Crown corporation Trans Mountain announced Wednesday the commercial start of the long-awaited crude oil pipeline expansion from oil-producing Alberta to the British Columbia coast.
The company said on its website that tanker ships will be able to receive oil by mid-May.
"Trans Mountain has demonstrated that challenging, long linear infrastructure can be built in Canada," said Dawn Farrell, CEO of the company.
"We were able to build 988 km of new pipeline, 193 km of reactivated pipeline, 12 new pump stations, 19 new storage tanks, and three new berths at Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby," said Farrell.
Line fill on the expanded system is expected to be completed within the next few weeks. The company said both the existing and expanded pipelines can now transport crude oil, and Trans Mountain can load cargoes from all three berths.
The original Trans Mountain Pipeline was built in 1953 and continues to operate today. The expansion project will increase the Trans Mountain system's shipping capacity from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels per day, delivering more Canadian crude oil to meet demand in global markets. ■
