What kind of insurance does Trans Mountain have today?
Typical to most businesses, Trans Mountain carries insurance for circumstances such as theft, damage to our assets from operating or natural events, and business interruption. As is customary for large projects, Trans Mountain also holds liability and property insurance for the Expansion Project, which covers construction-related incidents. These insurance policies are entirely separate from the company’s operating insurance policies.
Pipelines that are federally regulated under the Pipeline Safety Act, such as Trans Mountain, are required to hold a minimum level of financial resources to cover liabilities related to an incident. The amount is set at $1 billion for companies operating major oil pipelines. Further, the Act requires a portion of each company’s financial resources to be readily accessible to ensure rapid response to any incident. Trans Mountain maintains $1 billion in readily accessible financial resources, a large portion of which is comprised of liability insurance. Trans Mountain’s financial resources have been approved by the Canada Energy Regulator (CER).
Do your financial resource requirements change after the expansion?
As part of the Expansion Project’s regulatory review and ultimate approval, the economic, financial, and commercial lifecycle of the pipeline was reviewed and considered. Through this process, the CER imposed Condition 121 that required Trans Mountain to file a Financial Assurances Plan, which includes insurance provisions for the expanded system prior to the operation of the second line.
How can people feel confident that you have all those requirements met?
Trans Mountain is required to provide the CER with the necessary information about its insurance and readily accessible financial resources. We are committed to the environments that we operate within and take seriously our responsibilities to Canadians to respond to an incident. Trans Mountain submits this information to the CER on an annual basis, and recently filed updated financial resources plan, inclusive of insurance, with the CER on April 30, 2021.
Click here for more information on the 156 CER Conditions that apply during various stages of the Project’s life cycle, including before construction, during construction and during operation of the pipeline.
Find information about spill liability here.