ENERGY EAST DETOUR?
Mike Priaro, P.Eng.
First uploaded Jan. 26, 2016. Last updated Feb. 1, 2106.
Because of recent expressions of opposition, such as by a large group of Montreal-area mayors in the province of Quebec, led by Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre, it may be necessary to look at alternatives to the Energy East proposal.
One alternative that would require an extensive feasibility/engineering/ecological study is to detour the proposed Energy East pipeline to a port on Hudson Bay using at least some of the Hudson Bay Railway’s existing right-of-way from Winnipeg to Churchill to minimize land and water disruption.
VIA RAIL Route from Winnipeg to Churchill using the Hudson Bay Railway.
Such a detour would reduce the cost of an export pipeline for western Canada's vast oil resources while avoiding built-up areas.
Another alternative is to run a new pipeline directly from Fort McMurray to a new deep-water port at Rankin Inlet on Hudson Bay - also a relatively short hop of 1,266-km. A new pipeline to Churchill from Fort McMurray would be even shorter at 1,043 km.
Air route from Fort McMurray AB to Rankin Inlet NU by small aircraft.
Such a pipeline, with potential attendant road and other infrastructure, would run right through the heart of Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin, which produces a world-leading 20% of the world's supply of high-grade uranium.
Canada's sovereignty, national security, claims to Arctic resources, and responsibilities for Arctic shipping demand a greater presence in the Canadian Arctic, partly achievable by more ice-breakers, shipping, and ports.
There are many reports of less severe ice conditions and more open water in Arctic waters in recent years. Arctic sea ice has shrunk by an average of 3% each February since satellite records began in 1979. (Nature 531, 15–16 (03 March 2016) doi:10.1038/531015a).
Why not Canadian Arctic ice-rated oil tankers?
Ice-rated LNG carriers aren't new. The first were ordered in 2004 and they now account for around 5% of the 380-plus global LNG fleet.
YamalMax Ice-rated LNG Tanker Launch at Daewoo Shipyard.
The first in a series of ice-rated tankers ordered by the Russian gas producer NOVATEK to transport liquefied natural gas (LNG) from their Yamal LNG development was launched on Jan. 15, 2016 by Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine. Yamal intends to commission a total of 16 carriers. The tankers' ice-class (Arc7 according to RS classification) will allow them to move in 2.1 meter-thick field ice.
The use of ice-breaker-led convoys and daily trips might allow almost year-round passage through Hudson Bay to open sea.
The good news about Hudson Bay is that it is reported to be entirely (excluding the northern most part of the Foxe Basin) ice free every summer. This means that if the ice is all less than one year old (new ice) and less than 2 meters thick it is not a tough challenge from an ice breaking perspective, except that the distances are formidable. It's a long way from Churchill to the open Atlantic east of Resolution Island (the entrance to Hudson Strait).
Below is a map of the “Arctic Bridge” shipping route long proposed and used by the Russians to take cargos from Murmansk in Siberia to Churchill, MB.
"Arctic Bridge" Shipping Route (red).
But would Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ask for a moratorium on tankers in Canada’s Arctic and northern east coast waters as he did for Canada's northern waters off the west coast?
Mike Priaro, P.Eng.
Calgary
403-281-2156
Author Bio
"Mike Priaro, B.Eng.Sc. (Chem. Eng.), U.W.O. '76, P.Eng., Lifetime Member Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA), worked in facilities, production, operations and reservoir engineering, as engineering consultant, area superintendent, and engineering management in Alberta's oil patch for 25 years for companies such as Amoco and PetroCanada.”
“He increased oil production from the historic Turner Valley oilfield and brought in under-balanced drilling and completion technology to drill out, complete, and test several of the highest producing gas wells ever on mainland Canada at Ladyfern. He co-authored ‘Advanced Fracturing Fluids Improve Well Economics’ in Schlumberger's Oilfield Review and developed the course material for the ‘Advanced Production Engineering’ course at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.”
"Mike has presented his work to Canada’s House Committee on Natural Resources in Ottawa and had work published by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute in the March and April, 2014 and February, 2015 editions of Inside Policy magazine, by U.S. energy industry websites such as RBN Energy, in the July 17, 2014 edition of the Oil and Gas Journal, in Petroleum Technology Quarterly, Q3 2014, and in several columns in the Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, and Montreal Gazette.”
“Mike has no formal connection to any oil company, environmental organization, think tank, labour organization, lobbying or special interest group, academia, or to provincial or federal politics.”
“Mike was recently retained by Alberta Sulphur Research Limited to conduct "A Preliminary Engineering, Economic, and Environmental Evaluation of ASRL's Partial Upgrading Process" which he presented to 80 representatives of ASRL's member companies. ASRL partial upgrading obtained Alberta government funding and industry support for a flow test pilot now underway at CANMET/NRCan’s research facility in Devon, AB.”
“Mike is the author of “A ‘Canada-First’ Canadian Energy Strategy” (see https://www.behance.net/portfolio/editor?project_id=5808629) and is available for special projects, and speaking engagements.”
