MAJOR CANADIAN pipeline company Enbridge is proposing a $1.8-billion expansion of its main line to ship an extra 400,000brl/d of oilsands crude from Alberta to Wisconsin. The so-called 'Alberta Clipper' pipeline is the latest in an $8-billion suite of proposed new oil pipelines that Enbridge plans to develop in order to find new markets for rapidly-expanding production from the northern Alberta oilsands. With a massive growth in the oilsands, Enbridge is now expecting production will triple to 3m brl/d by 2010. The Alberta Clipper pipeline would run parallel to Enbridge's existing east-west main line — the largest oil pipeline in the world — and could be in operation by the end of the decade. The route will follow the existing line from the Alberta hub at Hardisty, southeast through Saskatchewan and Manitoba and into Superior, Wis. From there, it would link to the company's planned Southern Access line, which has full producer support to bring 400,000brl/d from Hardisty to Chicago by 2009. "This project would build on the Southern Access foundation and provide sufficient additional capacity support to a comprehensive pipeline network that really supplies US refineries throughout the Midwest, the mid-continent and the US Gulf Coast," chief executive Pat Daniel told analysts. And because the Alberta Clipper would use the same rights-of-way as the company's existing main line, the plan "has a huge advantage over any competition," said Daniel. "This is not in competition with anything — this is a very important next phase of expansion that will be very difficult to beat because of the diversity we offer and the tolling and cost advantage of putting all these things together." But other large pipeline firms are indeed vying with Enbridge to offer new shipping alternatives for oilsands producers. TransCanada has announced that it has secured long-term contracts for 78% of the volume of its proposed $2.1-billionKeystone pipeline, which would convert existing natural gas pipes in Canada and build a new line in the US to move oilsands crude from the Alberta hub SE to the major Midwest refining centres of Wood River and Patoka, Ill. Kinder Morgan, which acquired Vancouver-based Terasen last year, announced recently that it was continuing with incremental expansion of its Trans Mountain pipeline, which moves oilsands crude to export terminals in BC's Lower Mainland. Enbridge is also proposing a $4-billion Gateway pipeline that would run from Edmonton, across the Rockies to a deepwater port at Kitimat, BC, giving oilsands producers access to new markets in Asia and California. Kinder Morgan chief executive Richard Kinder also said he expected there would be "many other opportunities to build pipelines."