Summary of Recent Trans Mountain Pipeline Updates:

CERAWeek in Houston brought with it several comments on the TMX pipeline expansion, whose completion and start-up is nearing.

• Canada’s TMX pipeline is on track to be in service within three months Trans Mountain's chief financial and strategy officer Mark Maki told CERAWeek, with the next few weeks crucial in determining the start date.
• The TMX Expansion will be complete by the end of May, with the first waterborne exports from the expanded system starting a month later according to Danielle Smith, the Premier of Alberta.
• Despite promises of a prompt start-up, the Canada Energy Regulator said March 19 that it ordered TMX to stop work on part of its expansion project. The stoppage followed contractors working without authorisation near active bird nesting sites. It is not expected to cause significant delays.
• Unipec and Sinochem have been heard buying Access Western Blend 550k bbl cargoes this week for June delivery. The cargoes will be exported TMX, highlighting the pipeline’s ability to open Canadian crudes to APAC markets.
• Arbitrage inflows of crude cargoes into Asia, especially for heavy crudes into China, could see an uptick as the TMX expansion comes into operation, according to Platts.
• With the potential for added flows to Asia, Canada’s Alberta province needs to dramatically increase its output and further expand its export pipeline capacity to meet a potential heavy crude shortage in the USGC, according to Danielle Smith.