Maine crude movements down sharply from 2010

OREANDA-NEWS. Crude flows in the Portland-Montreal pipeline in Maine last year were less than one-third of what they were in 2010, before a major refinery closure and the onslaught of onshore production took hold.

The system, majority-owned by ExxonMobil-controlled Imperial Oil, moved about 89,300 b/d of imported crude into Quebec last year, down from 270,000 b/d in 2010, according to state figures. Shell's 130,000 b/d Montreal refinery closed in the fall of 2010, reducing demand for crude in the region.

Declines have continued into this year, with the line averaging about 129,300 b/d in the first three months, compared with 174,400 b/d in the same period of 2014.

Demand for crude off the line could further diminish once Enbridge's 300,000 b/d Line 9 opens from Sarnia, Ontario, into Montreal, giving eastern Canadian refiners more access to Bakken and western Canadian crudes.

The prospect of the pipeline reversing in reaction to the market shifts has prompted the city at the origin, South Portland, Maine, to ban loading crude off the pipeline, a preemptive measure to stop oil sands crude from being exported from the facility. The pipeline and the tanker industry have sued, saying the measure illegally regulates interstate commerce.

Maine Central Railroad moved an average of 10,500 b/d of crude by rail from May 2012 to March 2013, but has taken barely any crude through the state since. Montreal, Maine & Atlantic (MMA) railroad averaged about 10,340 b/d throughout from 2012 through July 2013, when a parked unit train broke free and careened into Lac-Megantic, Quebec, killing 47 people and devastating the town.

MMA went bankrupt in 2014 and its successor, Central Maine & Quebec, has not moved crude in the state, records show.

Maine bases its oil spill cleanup fund revenue on volumes, meaning inflows have declined from \\$3mn in 2010 to less than \\$980,000 last year.