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Regulator approves Trans Mountain toll settlement with 90% of the line contracted
The regulator found the negotiated tolls just and reasonable, cancelled the cost-sharing proceeding between the pipeline and its shippers, and approved raising firm contracted capacity on the 890,000 bbl/d system from 80% to 90%.
The Canada Energy Regulator (CER), the federal pipeline regulator, approved on September 28, 2026 the negotiated tolls settlement between Trans Mountain and its shippers, finding the tolls "just and reasonable" and cancelling the RH-002-2023 proceeding in which the two sides had been arguing over how to share the cost of the expansion [1]. The settlement raises the share of the pipeline that can be sold under firm contracts from 80% to 90% of capacity, which the regulator puts at 890,000 barrels a day since the 2024 expansion, up from about 300,000 before it [1].
The terms were announced on July 7 after 18 months of negotiation: 15- and 20-year service agreements with shippers holding the substantial majority of contracted volumes, an effective date of January 1, 2027, and an optimization program meant to add up to 300,000 barrels a day by the end of 2028, with about 90,000 barrels a day from drag-reducing agent by year-end [2][3]. Trans Mountain had asked for approval by October 1 [2].
For a U.S. reader this is the day the west coast outlet for Alberta crude became a long-term contract rather than an argument. A 90% contracted line on 15- and 20-year terms is competition Enbridge's Mainline did not face when its own tolls were settled in 2023, and it is the capacity producers such as Canadian Natural count when they report what share of their barrels has a committed route to tidewater [1][2].
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1
CER approves Trans Mountain settlement, establishing a new framework for tolls
Approval of Trans Mountain's tolls settlement (filing C41001) between Trans Mountain and shippers; revised toll, tariff and transportation services structure; contracting capacity from 80% to 90%; tolls found 'just and reasonable'; the RH-002-2023 proceeding on cost-sharing disagreements cancelled; capacity 890,000 bpd after the 2024 expansion from about 300,000 bpd.
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2
Trans Mountain Reaches Settlement Agreement with Shippers
Settlement with shippers holding the substantial majority of contracted firm volumes; 15- and 20-year service agreements; CER approval requested by October 1, 2026; effective January 1, 2027; optimization program targeting up to 300,000 bpd of added capacity by the end of 2028, about 90,000 bpd from drag-reducing agent by year-end; open season July 13 to August 10, 2026.
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3
Energy regulator approves Trans Mountain toll settlement
1,180-kilometre line from Edmonton to Burnaby; negotiations ran 18 months before the July announcement; planned expansion to 1.19 million barrels a day by late 2028. Used for the event; the capacity figures in the body are from the CER and Trans Mountain releases.
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