Canada’s Pipeline Transportation System 2016

Aurora Pipeline Company Limited’s Aurora Pipeline

Table 9.7.1: Aurora Pipeline Company Limited’s Aurora Pipeline
Commodity and NEB Group Crude Oil, Condensate, Butanes
(Group 2)
Average 2015 throughput 1 732 m³/d
(10.9 mb/d)
Primary receipt points Carway, AB
Primary delivery points Cutbank, MT
Abandonment Cost Estimate and Collection PeriodNote a $0.1 million;
40 years

Overview

The Aurora Pipeline (Aurora) is the NEB-regulated border segment of the Rangeland Pipeline system. It consists of two parallel (12-inch and 8-inch) 0.75 km sections of pipeline, starting near Carway, AB and ending at the Canada–U.S. border near Cutbank, MT.

Map – Aurora Pipeline

Source: NEB

Text version of this map

This map provides an overview of the Aurora Pipeline System from Edmonton, Alberta down to near Casper, Wyoming.

Key Developments

In October 2015, Plains Midstream Canada ULC (PMC) (which owns Aurora Pipeline Company Ltd.) applied to the Board to deactivate its 8-inch pipeline. The pipeline had been deactivated in July 2010; however no application to the NEB was made at that time. The Board approved the application in November 2015, and in December, PMC confirmed that the deactivation was completed in compliance with all applicable conditions to the Order.

Tolls

Figure 9.7.1 shows the Aurora benchmark toll (Connection with Rangeland Pipeline to Connection with Glacier Pipe Line Company at the U.S. border) and the GDP deflator (normalized). Aurora’s benchmark toll has not changed since 2010. Tolls are regulated on a complaint basis.

Figure 9.7.1: Aurora Benchmark Toll

Figure 9.7.1: Aurora Benchmark Toll

Source: NEB

Text version of this graphic

This graph shows the Aurora Pipelines benchmark toll as a solid red line and the GDP deflator as a black dashed line. The benchmark toll remained steady at $0.09 from 2010 to 2015.

Financial

Aurora is operated by PMC. Revenues directly attributable to this pipeline declined from about $83 000 in 2010 to $63 000 in 2015. Over the same time period, Aurora has depreciated $5 000 of its assets each year, bringing the book value of its capital assets down from $308 000 to $283 000.

Table 9.7.2: Aurora Pipeline Company Ltd. – Yearly
Aurora Pipeline Company Ltd. 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Revenues (thousands) $83 $81 $62 $39 $60 $63
Operating Profit (thousands) $69 $73 $54 $31 $52 $54
Assets (thousands) $308 $303 $298 $293 $288 $283
Top of Page Photos: left: A pump jack silhouetted against the setting sun; centre: The grey valves and wheels of a pump station on clear day; right: Folded hands hold a pen on a board room table in a large meeting room.
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