Burnaby city council members are backing Chevron's plea to the National Energy Board for a more steady supply of crude from Kinder Morgan's pipeline to the North Burnaby refinery.
In a report presented at Monday night's city council meeting, staff outlined a number of reasons to support Chevron's application for prioritized access to oil coming down Kinder Morgan's pipeline, mainly jobs, tax revenue and a secure supply of fuel for B.C. Each year, Chevron pays roughly $4 million in municipal taxes and utility fees, and the company spends about $70 million locally. At Monday's meeting, council members voted to support Chevron's application.
Chevron's North Burnaby refinery supplies roughly a third of B.C.'s transportation fuel and is one of two remaining refineries in the province. Kinder Morgan charges customers to run oil products from Alberta to B.C. via the Trans Mountain pipeline, and one of the customers is Burnaby's Chevron refinery. Because demand to use the pipeline has exceeded its maximum capacity, shippers have received less oil than what they would like, including Chevron. If the National Energy Board approves the application, oil destined to the refinery would get pri-ority access when demand on the pipeline's capacity is high.
According to city staff, Chevron's position is that oversubscription is threaten-ing the long-term operation of the Burnaby refinery.
Council has already taken a stance against Kinder Morgan's proposed pipeline expansion, which would not necessarily solve Chevron's supply problem. Chevron's National Energy Board hearing is set for Jan. 15, 2013 in Calgary, Alta.
Mayor Derek Corrigan was approved as an intervenor for the hearing, but he did not respond to the NOW's request for an interview.
