Trans Mountain Oil Expansion Costs Jump 70%, but Government Vows to Continue

The construction cost estimate for the half-finished Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion (TMX) has jumped by 70% to C$21.4 billion ($17 billion) and its completion target has been delayed by nearly a year until late 2023.

The Canadian government-owned oil conduit attributed the increase and schedule setback, disclosed late Friday, to project changes, Covid-19, British Columbia (BC) floods last fall, forest fires and rising financing charges.

Canadian Finance Minister Chrysta Freeland, whose government bought the pipeline in 2018 from Houston-based Kinder Morgan Inc., said no taxpayer money would be needed to cover the cost jump.

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