The two projects were initiated in response to industry demand for diluted heavy oil take-away from, and diluents supply to, the region north of Slave Lake, Alberta.
The Nipisi Pipeline is expected to require approximately 190 km of new pipeline – planned to run from the Nipisi Terminal, north of Slave Lake, Alberta, to Pembina’s Judy Creek pump station, south of Swan Hills, Alberta. From there, the new system will connect to an existing pipeline system to deliver heavy oil to the Edmonton, Alberta, area.
The Mitsue Pipeline is expected to require approximately 135 km of new pipeline, and the utilisation of approximately 120 km of existing pipelines to transport condensate from Pembina’s Whitecourt, Alberta, pump station north to the Nipisi Terminal. Both the Nipisi and Mitsue pipelines are planned to share approximately 90 km of common trench between the proposed Mitsue pump station and the Nipisi Terminal.
Regulatory decisions relating to the projects are expected to be delivered by September 2010 and construction is scheduled to begin as soon as practical once approvals have been granted.
Approximately 80 per cent of the project engineering is complete, and Pembina is on schedule to complete the project in mid-2011, for a combined cost of $US440 million.