Alberta suffers second major oil spill this month as Enbridge pumping station leaks 230,000 litres of heavy crude northeast of Edmonton

Big shippers, including Imperial Oil Ltd, Exxon Mobil Corp, Suncor Energy Inc, Marathon Petroleum Corp and Phillips 66, have all filed motions with the regulator in protest CALGARY — Enbridge Inc and its crude oil pipeline customers are battling over a plan by the company to try to cut the over-booking of capacity on the massive export network that has played a role in the deep discounting of Canadian crude prices.

Canadian spot oil prices tumbled as Enbridge Inc has imposed mid-month rationing on three of its Canada-U.S. oil pipelines, exacerbating an already-tight export capacity situation. Western Canada Select, a heavy blend of oil-sands bitumen, fell $2.50 to a $39.50 discount against the U.S. oil benchmark West Texas Intermediate, according to Calgary oil broker Net Energy Inc. Syncrude, a synthetic light oil processed from bitumen, sank 75 cents to a 25-cent discount.

VANCOUVER • An inky-blue dawn breaks across Burrard Inlet as the oil tanker British Beech glides into view. On the bridge of the tugboat Raven, captain Don Westmoreland, 59, peers at a video monitor that registers the vessel’s bearing and speed. “That’s our ship right there,” he says. Two 2,500-horsepower engines barely gurgle as the Raven tethers to the tanker’s stern for the trip under Second Narrows Bridge.

Canadian heavy oil prices reached a six-month high on the spot market amid a seasonal decline in production from Alberta. Canadian oil rig counts dropped by 30 to 117 this week, down from this year’s high of 509 during the week ended March 1, Houston oil field-services company Baker Hughes Inc. said Friday.

Avi Morris submits:Enbridge Energy ((EEP) and (EEQ)) just opened one of the largest capital projects ever for a MLP (Master Limited Partnership).

Enbridge Inc., Canada’s largest oil pipeline operator, is spending more time seeking public support for new conduits than regulatory approval as opponents of fossil fuel development try to block new routes to market, Chief Executive Officer Al Monaco said. “It’s not so much about getting the regulatory authority, it’s all about ensuring that the public is comfortable,” Monaco said at the Bloomberg Canada Economic Summit in Toronto today. “That’s the price of entry and that’s where we have to focus our energy more.”

Enbridge Inc , Canada’s second-largest pipeline company, reported an 8% fall in quarterly profit as it was hurt by an after-tax charge of $105-million related to certain offshore assets. The company and Energy Transfer on Friday said they will work together to provide crude oil pipeline access to the eastern Gulf Coast refinery market from Patoka, Illinois, a crude storage and blending hub.

Enbridge Inc. says it will spend $400-million to expand the capacity of its pipeline system between Hardisty, Alta., and the U.S. border. Enbridge says the project involves increasing pumping horsepower and that no new line pipe construction is involved. It expects to increase capacity by 230,000 barrels a day when the upgrade comes on line in 2015.