Canadian pipeline operator Trans Mountain expects dredging works at the port in Vancouver to be completed at the end of 2026 or early 2027, which will allow ships to load more oil than before, a senior executive said on Monday.
"Right now, Aframaxes can only leave our dock 70% full," Jennifer Pierce, chief administrative officer, Trans Mountain said at the APPEC conference in Singapore.
"When this dredging is completed at the end of '26, beginning of 2027, an Aframax would be able to move from the dock 100% full. So that's a significant uplift to the competitiveness for our shippers."
Aframax tankers typically transport up to 800,000 barrels, but at the company's Westridge Marine Terminal they are limited to loading around 550,000 barrels because of draft restrictions.
Trans Mountain operates the newly expanded 890,000-barrel-per-day pipeline, which has been operating at approximately 85% capacity in the second quarter.
(Reuters - Reporting by Florence Tan and Siyi Liu; Editing by Sonali Paul)