Pembina Pipeline unveils plans for $314m diluent terminal development in Alberta

Transportation and midstream service provider Pembina Pipeline has unveiled plans to construct a C$350m ($314m) condensate and diluent terminal in central Alberta, Canada.

The facility, dubbed the Canadian Diluent Hub (CDH), will be located at its Heartland Terminal site near Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta.

Phase one of CDH development is expected to cost $350m and will include 600,000 barrels of above ground storage, various inbound and outbound pipeline connections, and associated pumping as well as metering facilities.

The company has also completed engineering studies to construct further rail facilities at the diluent hub and develop underground cavern storage.

Pembina currently has 20,000 barrels per day of rail import capacity, 500,000 barrels of underground diluent storage and about 180,000 barrels a day of existing delivery capacity into third-party pipelines in the Fort Saskatchewan area.

The proposed facilities will accommodate contracted diluent supply volumes from the company’s earlier revealed field gas plant, pipeline and natural gas liquids fractionator expansions.

Pembina senior vice president of pipeline and crude oil facilities Paul Murphy said: "As the terminus of Pembina’s condensate pipeline for its Peace system, the Heartland site is ideally-located adjacent to all major diluent pipelines servicing the Athabasca oil sands producing region.

"This development, combined with our existing asset base, will allow us to provide our customers with a reliable and cost-competitive supply of not only condensate, but other diluents such as light sweet crude, synthetic crude oil and custom diluent blends."

Pembina plans to start phasing in storage and pipeline connections at the CDH in 2016 and be fully operational in the second quarter of 2017.

Once completed, Pembina anticipates it would be the largest domestic supply source for condensate in Alberta.