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    Alliance Launches Open Season

Summary

Pipeline is planning a $2bn expansion

by: Dale Lunan

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Natural Gas & LNG News, Americas, Corporate, Investments, Contracts and tenders, Infrastructure, Pipelines, News By Country, Canada

Alliance Launches Open Season

Alliance Pipeline on March 28 launched a binding open season for an estimated 400mn ft3/day of firm service expansion capacity expected to be in-service by 4Q 2021.

Alliance, owned by Enbridge and Pembina Pipeline, delivers an estimated 1.6bn ft3/day of liquids-rich gas from British Columbia, Alberta and North Dakota to the Aux Sable fractionation complex near Chicago. Aux Sable is owned by Enbridge, Pembina and Williams Partners.

The open season, which will close May 30, is available to both existing and new shippers, and is for long-term take or pay contracts over a minimum bid term of 15 years. Two offerings will run concurrently, one for Canadian receipt and delivery services and one for US transportation service, and producers seeking delivery service to Aux Sable will need to participate in both offerings.

The commitments are being sought to underpin a planned $2bn expansion of the Alliance system through the addition of compression and other facilities. The expansion plan remains subject to regulatory approval.

“Strong customer demand is the driver for this initiative,” said Dan Sutherland, vice president, commercial operations for Alliance. “Existing firm capacity on our system is fully subscribed, and interruptible capacity is at a premium.”

On March 27, Enbridge and Pembina announced they will convert the administration and operation of Alliance into an owner-operator model. Under the new model, Enbridge will manage operations, while Pembina will be responsible for commercial and finance functions.

The new model is expected to take effect this summer.