April 13, 2012 [Market Watch] - Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. said Thursday it will build a $5 billion expansion of its Trans Mountain pipeline to send Canadian oil to Vancouver ports for shipment to Asia.
Trans Mountain is the second major oil pipeline project aiming to bring oil from Canada’s growing oil-sands production to new markets in Asia, competing with Enbridge Inc.’s Northern Gateway oil pipeline project.
Kinder Morgan said the expansion will more than double the capacity of the Trans Mountain pipeline, to 850,000 barrels a day from 300,000 barrels a day, and expand the Westridge Marine Terminal in Vancouver to allow larger tanker traffic for ships to carry the oil to Asia.
Almost all of Canada’s oil goes to the U.S. After the U.S. raised regulatory hurdles for a new oil pipeline from Canada early this year, Canadian politicians have said getting access to alternative oil customers in Asia is a strategic priority for Canada
