Enbridge Line 61 To Exceed Capacity of Keystone XL

Vice reported that Enbridge Inc. (NYSE:ENB,TSX:ENB) plans to continue its expansion of its Line 61 pipeline from its current capacity, which runs 560,000 barrels of tar sands oil a day, up to 1.2 million barrels per day, which is a 30 percent higher capacity than TransCanada’s (TSX:TRP) Keystone XL.

As quoted in the market news:

Last month, President Barack Obama vetoed a bill approving construction of Keystone in order to allow a lengthy State Department review to be completed. But because Line 61 doesn’t cross an international border, it doesn’t require the same kind of approval.

In many respects, the intense focus on Keystone — from both proponents and opponents — is symbolic. Canadian tar sands oil will be extracted and transported to the US whether or not Keystone’s construction is approved. For starters, oil trains are able to transport oil when pipelines are unavailable. (While the size of the average pipeline spill is much greater than an oil train spill — pipelines transport far more oil — trains tend to have accidents more often. In the past month, four oil trains have derailed in Canada and the US.) Second and more significantly, there are pipeline alternatives to Keystone that are proposed or already exist. Like Line 61.

Click here to read the full Vice report.