Although Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline is running into increasing political opposition in B.C., the company's plan to ship Canadian crude the other direction is much less contentious.
Enbridge has been working on a plan for years to increase capacity of some pipelines and reverse the flow of others to ship heavy oil from Alberta's oilsands to refineries in Sarnia, Ont., Montreal and the eastern United States.
"It's something that we've been building as the anticipated output of the oilsands region has increased," company spokesman Graham White said.
Since those pipelines heading east are already built and in use, there's less of an outcry from environmental groups. Meanwhile, Northern Gateway -- which would connect Alberta's oilsands with Kitimat -- has been beset by protests and is now facing strict conditions from the B.C. government.
If all the plans to move oil east proceed, it could equal or even exceed the amount of oil Northern Gateway could ship west. However it's not an either-or proposition for Enbridge. The company is keen to have both projects move forward.
"There's more than enough (oil) to provide product on all of our expansions that are currently approved, applied for and projected," White said. "We don't look at it as (providing an alternative to Northern Gateway). We look at is as providing what we have in our current system and how we need to expand that current system to match the demand for the shipment of the products."
University of Ottawa law professor Errol Mendes, a former Alberta resident, has been following the Northern Gateway debate closely. He said if Northern Gateway continues to get a bumpy ride, moving oil east could be a good test run to see if bitumen can be moved safely.
"(By moving oil eat you can) wait and see how that shapes up, wait and see if the pipelines which Enbridge says are sturdy enough to prevent any spills, actually are," he said. "If everything works out, maybe in the future B.C. may change its mind, or it may not."
The plan to move oil from west to east gained political traction earlier this month when the Senate standing committee on energy, the environment and natural resources released a report unanimously supporting the plan.
Senator Grant Mitchell, a Liberal from Alberta and the deputy chair of the committee, said not only would be economically viable to move oil east would have the added benefit of weaning Canadian refineries off crude oil from the Middle East.
"We have to find a way to get Alberta oil, Saskatchewan oil to the Maritimes, the Atlantic provinces and Quebec," he said.
In addition to shipping bitumen to Canadian refineries, Mitchell would like to see things taken a step further and have Canadian oil exported to the European market. Much like the business case that's made for Northern Gateway, he said Canadian companies would be able to get a better price for their products if they could sell oil across the ocean.
Mitchell said there would be even fewer environmental concerns out east as the shipping lanes are wider than what the tankers would need to negotiate around Kitimat.
However, White said Enbridge has no plans to ship any Alberta crude beyond Montreal.
"We don't have the facility for that and it's not something that we're currently looking at," he said.
