New technologies dull but don’t cure Canada’s export oil pipeline headaches
CALGARY — The potential cancellation of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is putting a spotlight on oilpatch innovations that might mitigate the need for export capacity as oilsands production rises.
But even the most ardent supporters of the new technologies agree Canada is still going to need new pipeline space.
“What I think we should be doing is using the existing pipeline space we have to ship as much money out of Alberta as we can,” said Ian MacGregor, president of North West Refining, operator of the just-opened Strathcona Refinery northeast of Edmonton.
“We should be making the most economically dense things we can.”