Major BC refinery pausing operations as Trans Mountain pipeline is shutdown

As Trans Mountain crews continue to work to restore the pipeline that was shutdown due to heavy rainfall and extreme weather conditions, Parkland Corporation has temporarily paused operations at its Burnaby refinery.

The refinery — which supplies BC with the bulk of its gas — is currently operating in “ready-mode” as the company wait for Trans Mountain to get up and running. That essentially means that the refinery is on standby until the pipeline is operational.

A statement from Parkland suggests that the halting of processing operations is due to a “lack of crude oil supply from the Trans Mountain Pipeline.”

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While processing has been paused, Parkland’s blending, shipping terminal, and rack activities are still operational.

“Our teams are working tirelessly to source and import available refined fuels. By leveraging our supply capabilities and infrastructure at the refinery, we are confident in our ability to keep our retail and commercial locations supplied with fuel.”

Parkland supplies fuel to customers in Canada, the United States, as well as the Caribbean.

Meanwhile, Trans Mountain is optimistic the pipeline can be restarted by the end of the week in a limited capacity — as long as the weather cooperates. The pipeline is currently in “static condition,” and there’s no indication of any loss of containment.

Crews are nearly done remaining ground evaluations of the pipeline in Coquihalla & Coldwater areas. Majority of watercourse diversion work to restore right-of-way has been completed. #TransMountain teams worked through the night to accelerate this work.
➡️https://t.co/LOEW7cCJBn pic.twitter.com/q54ZQHpW9E

— Trans Mountain (@TransMtn) November 23, 2021

Trans Mountain has more than 400 people, seven helicopters, and over 100 pieces of heavy equipment focused on getting the pipeline restarted.

In a statement, Trans Mountain says this is the longest shutdown in its 70-year history.