Alberta and Saskatchewan oil producers stand to gain committed customers, reliable tolls and shipping capacity growth from the hotly contested service overhaul proposal for their chief conduit to markets across Canada and the United States, according to Enbridge Inc.

Oil Imports

The Calgary pipeline conglomerate predicted the benefits in a 94-page response to industry furor ignited by its plan to convert 90% of its 2.9 million b/d Mainline to years-long delivery contracts from monthly common carrier bookings.

The reply ends a year of written salvos before an estimated five weeks of oral hearings on the switch, scheduled to start May 19 before the Canada Energy Regulator (CER). Critics have inundated Enbridge with more than 3,000 questions.

“Contracting on the Canadian Mainline meets...