Pipelines in Canada are important components of
energy infrastructure in Canada as the majority of
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
and
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
deposits are located in landlocked
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
and need to be transported to ports or terminals to access larger markets.
Professional associations
The Canadian Energy Pipeline Association (CEPA), whose 2019 members included
Alliance Pipeline (natural gas),
ATCO Pipelines (natural gas),
Enbridge
Enbridge Inc. is a multinational pipeline and energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Enbridge owns and operates pipelines throughout Canada and the United States, transporting crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. ...
,
Inter Pipeline,
Pembina Pipeline
Pembina Pipeline is a Canadian corporation that operates transportation and storage infrastructure delivering oil and natural gas to and from parts of Western Canada (since 2003 storage includes ethylene at 1 location); there is also a natural gas ...
(oil and natural gas),
Plains All American Pipeline
Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. is a master limited partnership engaged in pipeline transport, marketing, and storage of liquefied petroleum gas and petroleum in the United States and Canada. It owns interests in of pipelines, storage capacity ...
known also as Plains Midstream Canada,
TC Energy
TC Energy Corporation (formerly TransCanada Corporation) is a major North American energy company, based in the TC Energy Tower building in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, that develops and operates energy infrastructure in Canada, the United States, ...
(oil and natural gas),
TransGas
TransGas Limited operates the TransGas Pipeline, is a natural gas pipeline system which collects gas from wells sites in Saskatchewan and moves gas between Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and the United States. The system consists of nearly 1 ...
's TransGas Pipelines,
Trans Mountain pipeline
The Trans Mountain Pipeline System, or simply the Trans Mountain Pipeline, is a pipeline that carries crude and refined oil from Alberta to the coast of British Columbia, Canada. The pipeline is currently owned by the Government of Canada th ...
,
Trans Northern Pipelines, and Calgary-based Calgary-based Wolf Midstream Inc.'s pipeline, was formed in 1993.
CEPA members transporting most of the natural gas and crude oil from Canada to other North American markets.
Since 2015, Chris Bloomer, a geoscientist, who had formerly served in executive positions at
Shell Canada
Shell Canada Limited (french: Shell Canada Limitée) is the principal Canadian subsidiary of British energy major Shell plc and one of Canada's largest integrated oil companies. Exploration and production of oil, natural gas and sulphur is a maj ...
,
Connacher Oil and Gas, and
Petrobank Energy and Resources
Petrobank was an oil exploration, development, and production company based in Calgary, Canada. It operates through 4 units/subsidiaries, PetroBakken Energy (58% owned subsidiary) in Canada, ''Petrominerales Ltd'' (was 65% owned until December 3 ...
, replaced Brenda Kenny, who served as president and CEO since 2008. Since 2015, CEPA, has provided an interactive map of its members' pipelines in Canada, including those under construction or newly completed, such as the Trans Mountain pipeline, and TC Energy's
Keystone Pipeline
The Keystone Pipeline System is an oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States, commissioned in 2010 and owned by TC Energy and as of 31 March 2020 the Government of Alberta. It runs from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alber ...
expansion—Keystone XL—and its
Coastal GasLink Pipeline
The Coastal GasLink pipeline is a TC Energy natural gas pipeline under construction in British Columbia, Canada. Starting in Dawson Creek, the pipeline's route crosses through the Canadian Rockies and other mountain ranges to Kitimat, where t ...
Project.
According to their 2020 performance report, some of the issues upon which they focus include environmental issues including the
impact of climate change, pipeline integrity, and emergency responses, relationships with First Nations communities, regulatory policy, as well as health and safety.
In a September 30, 2020 ''
Calgary Herald'' article, with the oil and gas industry experiencing the
COVID-19 pandemic economic slump, CEPA CEO Bloomer was cited as stressing that Canada needs to "tout" its
environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance in order to "attract new investment, expand oil and natural gas production, and get pipelines built".
Regulation and ownership
Regulation
The Canadian federal government regulates around 10% (by length) of pipelines through the
Canadian Energy Regulator The Canada Energy Regulator (CER) is the agency of the Government of Canada under its Natural Resources Canada portfolio, which licenses, supervises, regulates and enforces all applicable Canadian laws as regards to interprovincial and internationa ...
.
The Regulator has precedence over provincial regulation when pipelines cross provincial or international boundaries.
Provincially each provinces has its own regulator listed below:
Rejected and abandoned pipelines
Proposed pipelines
Operating pipelines
Gallery
References
{{Canadian pipelines