Trans Mountain pipeline expansion gets green light to open for May 1

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Premier Danielle Smith and Minister of Energy and Minerals Brian Jean issued the following statement on the start-up of the Trans Mountain Pipeline:

“Alberta is celebrating an important achievement for the energy industry – the startup of the twinned Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project (TMX). It’s great news for Albertans and Canadians, as this will welcome a new era of prosperity and economic growth. The completion of TMX is monumental for Alberta, since this will significantly increase our province’s output. It will triple the capacity of the original pipeline to now carry 890,000 barrels per day of crude oil from Alberta’s oil sands to British Columbia’s Pacific Coast.

“We are excited that Canada’s biggest and newest oil pipeline in more than a decade can now bring oil from Edmonton to tidewater in B.C. This will allow us to get our energy resources to Pacific markets, including Washington State and California, and Asian markets like Japan, South Korea, China and India. Alberta now has new energy customers, and tankers with Alberta oil will be unloading in China and India in the next few months.

“For Alberta this is a game-changer. The world needs more reliably and sustainably sourced Alberta energy, not less. World demand for oil and gas resources will continue in the decades ahead, and the new pipeline expansion will give us the opportunity to meet global energy demands, increase North American and global energy security, and help remove the issues of energy poverty in other parts of the world.

“Analysts are predicting the price differential on Canadian crude oil will narrow, resulting in many millions of extra government revenues, which will help fund important programs like health, education and social services – the things Albertans rely on. TMX will also result in billions of dollars of economic prosperity for Albertans, Indigenous communities and Canadians, and create well-paying jobs throughout Canada.

“Our province wants to congratulate the Trans Mountain Corporation for its tenacity to have completed this long awaited and much-needed energy infrastructure, and to thank the more than 30,000 dedicated, skilled workers whose efforts made this extraordinary project a reality. The province also wants to thank the federal government for seeing this project through. This is a great example of an area where the provincial and federal government can cooperate and work together for the benefit of Albertans and all Canadians.”